A Lengthy Island man was charged with kidnapping and the illegal imprisonment of his girlfriend at her Queens Village residence in August.
File photograph by Lloyd Mitchell
A Lengthy Island man was criminally charged with kidnapping and the illegal imprisonment of his girlfriend in her Queens Village residence in August, in line with Queens District Legal professional Melinda Katz.
Herman Brightman, 30, of Department Avenue in Central Islip, is accused of threatening his 28-year-old girlfriend with a knife throughout her ordeal and Katz is urging different girls who Brightman dated and may need victimized to contact her workplace because the investigation stays ongoing.
Brightman was arraigned Oct. 17 in Queens Supreme Court docket on a seven-count indictment charging him with kidnapping within the second diploma; illegal imprisonment within the first diploma; prison mischief within the third diploma; menacing within the second diploma; illegal imprisonment within the second diploma; prison possession of a weapon within the fourth diploma; and prison mischief within the fourth diploma.
In line with the fees, On Aug. 7, Brightman and a lady he had met months earlier by the relationship app Hinge acquired into an argument on the girl’s Queens Village dwelling. Brightman threw the lady’s laptop monitor on the ground, shattering the display screen. Brightman advised the lady to take a seat on her mattress whereas he went into the kitchen and acquired a knife.
He then chopped her cellular phone with the knife. He climbed on high of the lady, poked her with the tip of the knife, positioned his arms on her mouth and threatened to “intestine her,” in line with the fees. Brightman then requested her which a part of her physique she wished him to chop first.
Brightman advised her to show up the music that was taking part in and seemed by a window to examine for neighbors. He then advised the lady that he was going to kill her earlier than he taped the sufferer’s mouth shut, sure her wrists behind her again and demanded she sit in a nook of the room, in line with the fees.
She managed to flee, in line with Katz, who famous that Brightman had used the alias Nazir Griffiths.
“The defendant terrorized his girlfriend in her own residence. Wielding a knife, he threatened to intestine her; he threatened to kill her,” Katz stated. “She is lucky to have escaped together with her life. I urge girls who might have been victimized by the defendant, or want security planning providers, or assist in securing an order of safety or shelter placement, to name our 24-hour home violence hotline.”
Queens Supreme Court docket Justice Michael Yavinsky ordered Brightman to return to court docket on November 28. If convicted, Brightman faces as much as 25 years in jail.
Katz is urging victims of home violence to name her workplace’s Home Violence Helpline at 718-266-4410.
