Police rescue woman kidnapped, held inside cage-equipped van in Alabama

Published 7:02 am Monday, December 30, 2019

A California man accused of kidnapping a woman held the victim at knifepoint in a van equipped with a cage and doors chained shut, an Alabama police chief confirmed.

Brookside police responded to a call of a kidnapping in progress on Sunday afternoon, Chief Mike Jones said.

When officers located the suspect, Sean E. Sanders, he rammed into a bystander’s car and escaped, the official said.

Officers blocked Sanders on a nearby road, and spotted the woman being forced to the floor of the white van and bleeding from her head.

Sanders later rammed a police car, tried to run over an officer and held a knife to the woman while demanding officers kill him, Jones added.

Negotiators from a tactical unit were able to arrest him.

The woman was taken to a hospital in stable condition.

She didn’t know Sanders, the police chief confirmed.

He faces felony charges including kidnapping, assault, criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, attempted murder and attempting to elude, news outlets reported.

Sanders had also been arrested for kidnapping in the past, records showed.