Pair Charged In Violent West Hartford Kidnapping Case

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Two arrests have been made in a violent January kidnapping case out of West Hartford, police said.

At about 6 p.m. Wednesday, West Hartford police served two "simultaneous, high-risk arrest warrants" on two suspects as part of a month-long investigation related to a January kidnapping during which a 21-year-old man was abducted at knifepoint as he walked east on the Boulevard from Trout Brook Drive, according to a news release.

The man was forced into a car and taken to "multiple locations," where his ATM card was repeatedly used for "illegal purchases," police said.

The man, who suffered minor injuries during the jaunt, was then held against his will in an undisclosed location and was released the next day in Hartford, police said.

He then contacted the West Hartford Police Department.

One suspect has been identified as Jalen Faucette-Smith. He was was taken into custody Monday at Westfarms mall, police said.

The second suspect, Teesa McElroy, was was taken arrested Monday after the car she was a passenger in was stopped on Interstate-84 in Hartford, police said.

Faucette-Smith, 20, of New Britain, was charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree robbery (with related conspiracies), second- and third-degree larceny and payment card theft.

McElroy, 20, of New Britain, was charged with C.G.S. 53a-92 First-degree kidnapping, second-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the first degree, conspiracy to commit robbery in the second degree, third-degree larceny, payment card theft and the illegal use of a payment card.

Both were held on $750,000 surety bonds and were to appear in court Tuesday, police said. The case is still being considered an open investigation, police added.