"I didn't know what was going on," said Nicholas. "So I put my hands up and I'm like, 'I'm innocent, please don't shoot me again.' The assailants, who took the UR student's credit cards, ATM cards and telephone, seemed almost gleeful, according to the testimony. It's the first time he's spoken publicly about the ordeal that left him hospitalized for 25 days; he still has a rod in his leg and a bullet in his calf 14 months later. Strickland and company then wanted revenge. "There was always someone, at least one or two individuals that were kind of watching over us," said Nicholas. Image source: University of Rochester Athletics, Amanda Pflugrad Age, Husband, Career, and Other Facts, Joao Maleck Five Fast Facts About The Rising Star, Copyright 2023 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes, Sade is a contributor with a bias on Nigerian stars, Lexie Bigham How He Began, What He Did, How He Died, Jessi Nakles Heres Everything We Know About Her, What Became of Sean Caracena And Cause Of His Death, Simon Jacques Bio, Career Highlights, Cause of Death, Martell Lane: How He Started And How He Died. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. Cops still aren't certain they're in the hostage house. Six arraigned in kidnapping of college students | News "I was just kind of feeling worse, not optimistic at all that we would be found.". Seminole, North American Indian tribe of Creek origin who speak a Muskogean language. Few details have been released about the case so far, and even the defense attorneys of some of the suspects say they haven't received a full story about what happened. The university responded in part: "We disagree with Mr. Kollias's assertions but we continue to wish him the best as he moves forward after this traumatic experience." Release of the indictments, while partly redacted for sensitivity, offered a harrowing glimpse intowhat UR President Joel Seligman would later describe as the "intimidating and demeaning treatment" that the pair endured. Senior year, and fall semester at the University of Rochester is in full swing. According to the Tribune, the jury was also showna video, shot on a phone by one of the kidnappers, of men in masks with chainsaws, beating and demeaning the victims. I was thinking about my family, parents and God. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. While one of the kidnappers records, two of the others are seen threatening Ani Okeke Ewo with a hedge-trimmer, and then prodding Nicholas lying on the floor covered in blood. Our focus as a university is on our two students as they recover from their ordeal. They had roles for individuals. Ex-football coach sues U of Rochester over ESPN special It only got worse as time went on.". UR abduction case to be featured on 'Evil Talks' cable TV series When the kidnapping turn out to be a mistake of identity and resulted in complex deceit where drug dealer Smith had arranged an earlier fake robbery earlier. Six people have been charged in their abduction. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/26/2023). So Ani took a quick picture of me and sent it to them.". In partnership with She had to go to work, so she said 'Can I meet up with you tomorrow and we can finish this,'" said Deputy Chief Scott Peters. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Lydell Strickland, 26, was sentenced to155 years in prison for planning the attack as well as charges ofrobbery, assault and sex abuse. Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude. Five have pleaded guilty; four are now on trial before state Supreme Court Justice Alex Renzi. They keep Nicholas in the bathroom. Jurors were shown a cellphone video that captured a portion of the ordeal. Forty hours later, one of the captors decided to let them go when a SWAT team entered the house freeing the pair. It turns out the kidnappers got the wrong guys Cops say the target was a completely different University of Rochester football player named Isaiah Smith. Police haven't yet said how they figured . But is all this really just about money? Lydell Strickland gets 155 years to life. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, both University of Rochester football players from Illinois, were lured to a home for what they thought was a Saturday night house party. Authorities later said they had been targeted in a case of mistaken identityafter marijuana dealers were beaten and robbed by someone else at Ewo's apartment a month earlier. Lydell Strickland, David Alcaraz-Ubiles, Inalia Rolldan andRuth Loraare now on trial for alleged roles in the abduction and subsequent brutality. Ad Choices. Neither of them are making it easy for investigators. Five men and four women, all Rochester-area residents in their late teens and early 20s, were convicted of kidnapping and other crimes. and "At that point she really wasn't free to leave.". "Trying to track down the two women that they had met up with," said Peters. It does not store any personal data. 00:11 EDT 12 Dec 2015. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. "And I was holding Ani's hand and I just knew that like one of these bullets were going to hit me and I was going to die.". It was just flopping around, and somehow I managed to get back to my feet and get to the door," said Nicholas. Growing up in an upscale suburb of Chicago, Nicholas Kollias was the all-American high school kid. Two University of Rochester Students Rescued Following Abduction - People Police said Nicholas Kollias, of Northbrook, Illinois, who was shot, and Ani Okeke Ewo,. He's also seen in other damning videos cops found around town. Outside of court Thursday afternoon, Prosecutor Matthew Schwartz wouldn't say whether Ewo planned to testify, and declined to identify other potential witnesses he might call. "It was dark out and from the outside it seemed like a decent house," said Nicholas. Elige entre ms de 90.000 audiolibros y podcasts originales. "They were having so much enjoyment with it that they started recording it.". Aisha Hinds: Age, Family, Career, Is She Gay? Ani Okeke Ewo (left) and Nicholas Kollias (right) were rescued from a house in Rochester, N.Y., where they were held against their will for most of the weekend. What was the monsters' motive for perpetrating this horrific crime? Get In Touch. The studentsapparently were victims of mistaken identity,targeted by six or more suspectsand abducted on Dec. 5, asretribution for a drug-related robbery in which neither was involved. Police said. Second person pleads guilty in UR kidnapping case. A Cup of Joe - Pardalis and Nohavicka Attorneys After hours of torture, the masked men leave. The gang members arrested were Lydell Strickland, 26, Dennis Perez, 23, Leah Gigliotti, 20, Samantha Hughes, 19, Inalia Rolldan,19, and David Alcaraz-Ubiles. Brian DeCarolis, who was hired to represent Gigliotti, said the two men appearde to have been misled to the apartment. Perhaps, had the campus authorities had not ignored Smiths drug dealing due to his talent on the football field, then Ewo and his friend wouldnt have suffered any of the events. "Then before I knew it we showed up at the house.". Strickland faces the most serious charges, including kidnapping and gang assault. Authorities have said that UR seniorsAni Okeke Ewo and Nicholas Kolliaswereheld and terrorized for 40 hours before beingrescued by a Rochester police SWAT team. He says during their 40-hour ordeal, he received more of the abuse than Ani did, and he thinks he knows why. It's believed that the first four lured University of Rochester football playerAni Okeke Ewo and former football player Nicholas Kollias to a house on Harvest Street and proceeded to beat them with fists and clubs, demanding their money, credit cards and bank numbers. 13:40 EDT 11 Dec 2015 It's not over. He tried to sprint to a door, and was shot in the leg. "The door gets blown inside," said Peters. Rochester Police launch a full investigation, getting search warrants for the boys' phones and Facebook accounts. University President Joel Seligman issued a statement Monday saying: 'I will, at an appropriate time in the near future, be able to provide more detail about this very serious, but isolated, incident. "I feel like for each of these defendants and for these victims, that justice was served," said Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley. Rochester College Students Rescued After Kidnapping - NewsOne The Democrat and Chronicle reports that. The pair went to a house that reeked of urine and sat on a sofa. Six arrested for kidnapping University of Rochester students and Sadly, Nicholas and Ani are no longer friends. Nicholas and his fellow teammate and fraternity brother Ani Okeke Ewo are hanging out when Ani gets messaged on social media. It was not just about money, but revenge. He may have made it there, but he wasn't home free. Ani Okeke Ewo was abducted along with Nicholas Kollias back in 2015 and tortured in a drug-related revenge attack. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Kollias was with him at the time of the kidnapping. "The torture consists of something you would see in a movie, but it's not a movie because this is real life," he said. Once inside, Kollias said, the assault began. "I only made it about halfway across the room before I felt something like being pressed up to the side of my upper leg, and then the next thing I remember is just being on the ground.". I didn't want to die and give in to these people.". This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. They roll up. I always wanted to continue playing football in college. Nikolaos Kollias ( Greek: ; born in Selitsa, Voio) was a Greek revolutionary and soldier. "It essentially showed 30 seconds of torture, and when you put that in perspective that was only 30 seconds out of almost 40 hours, so you can only imagine what they went through during the other 39 hours and change.". Disfruta de Audible en tu smartphone, tablet, ordenador o Amazon Echo. Sexual assault alleged in UR kidnapping case - Democrat and Chronicle "I am not going to let these individuals mess up the rest of my life, and so that's why I am trying to be optimistic and just positive and move forward in the best way that I can.". Nicholas is now trying to move on with his life. "For me, I have always said I don't want this to hold me back, I don't want this to label me," said Nicholas. "They were in a nice car. He still has a titanium rod in his left leg and a bullet lodged in his right calf. "As they go through the door, they look in there and sure enough, there's the two football players sitting on the floor," said Peters. As the investigation begins, cops find a stomach-churning video on one of the violent kidnapper's cellphones. It's now Sunday night, 9 p.m., almost 40 hours into this kidnapping nightmare.
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