Toledo woman charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping

8/21/2013
BY VANESSA McCRAY
BLADE STAFF WRITER
Brittany J. Long of Toledo.
Brittany J. Long of Toledo.

BOWLING GREEN -- A Toledo woman charged with aggravated robbery and kidnapping was arraigned today in Bowling Green Municipal Court.

Brittany J. Long, 20, 902 Rochelle Rd., was arrested for her role in an alleged abduction and robbery of a University of Toledo student from China. Bowling Green police Deputy Chief Tony Hetrick said Ms. Long was arrested Tuesday night without incident after she contacted an attorney.

Police said Ms. Long was among a group of people who picked up a UT student Sunday after he made arrangements in an online chat room to meet a stranger to go to Cedar Point. Instead, police said Ms. Long and others took the student to a vacant Bowling Green house, robbed him at knifepoint, used his debit card, took him to a hotel, and tried unsuccessfully to secure a ransom payment from his relatives in China. Police said the student later was dropped off unharmed near his Toledo apartment.

Ms. Long is to be released on her own recognizance, with several conditions including being subject to random toxicology screens and a requirement to live with her father in Toledo. She cannot be in contact with others involved in the incident and must not threaten or harm anyone physically or psychologically, according to the municipal court.

The victim told police an Asian female who was part of the group that picked him up said she too had been abducted. Police determined she is not a missing person and called her a “person of interest” in the case. Mr. Hetrick would not release her name.

Police also are seeking to identify two men who also were part of the group.

A preliminary hearing for Ms. Long is scheduled for Aug. 28.