Hyannis

Stabbed and choked, man escapes Hyannis kidnapping, police say

Two men trapped the alleged victim inside a home at gunpoint, at one point choking him with a belt and stabbing him with a knife, and threatening to kill him, Barnstable police say

Handcuffs
Ilkay Dede/EyeEm via Getty Images

A man was held against his will, choked with a belt and stabbed at a home on Cape Cod before escaping early Thursday morning, police said.

The two alleged kidnappers were soon arrested — one of them, who'd been wanted in a separate incident on the Cape, after a brief chase on foot, according to Barnstable police.

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The alleged victim, who is expected to survive, made it to a neighboring home on Quaker Road in Hyannis, where a neighbor called 911 about 7 a.m., police said. The man said he'd been held by two people he knew: Eric Randall, a 23-year-old from Hyannis, and Richard Villa, a 34-year-old from Cotuit.

The pair trapped the man inside the home at gunpoint, at one point choking him with a belt and stabbing him with a knife, and threatening to kill him, police said.

Villa was soon taken into custody in the area, but Randall fled from officers on foot when he was tracked down later Thursday afternoon, according to police.

The two men face a slew of charges, including kidnapping. Randall was also wanted for allegedly assaulting someone while brandishing a gun in Barnstable Wednesday, according to police.

A "ghost" gun and knife were found in the investigation, police said.

It wasn't immediately clear if Villa and Randall had attorneys who could speak to the charges. Both were ordered held without bail.

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