Police locate woman, tractor-trailer driver sought in connection to troubling video
By Ali Bauman
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SOUTH BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (WCBS) — New Jersey police say they have found both a woman and a tractor-trailer driver they were searching for after a troubling video surfaced Wednesday.
Police say tracking down the non-descript white tractor-trailer was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but they did it with the help of the community, and now the woman and driver are both talking to detectives about what exactly happened.
A white truck cab with specs of red blood on the passenger side door was towed to the South Brunswick Police station Thursday.
Detectives believe it’s the same Volvo tractor trailer they had been searching for since Wednesday, when a woman with blood dripping down her face was seen trying to escape from the passenger side on Route 130 while screaming for help. But witnesses said the male driver quickly pulled her back into the cab and sped off.
“The information comes in, it’s so vague, but the story is so compelling that there’s a woman yelling for help, the truck taking off, and it makes everyone’s stomach sink that, what could this be?” Deputy Chief Jim Ryan said.
Police say in the hours after putting the video out, they received dozens of tips from across the country, but the most important came from Gabrielli Truck Sales, where the woman had bought a battery 15 minutes before she was seen bleeding across the street.
“The initial video, they couldn’t read the logo, so I believe they had another video when they figured out they were here and they got a better shot of the truck,” Gabrielli manager John Efthimiades said.
“That puts the male and female at that location, and that video is what starts everything, really developing leads to what goes on,” Ryan said.
Thursday, police were able to track down the truck with the driver and woman in a neighboring town. It’s unclear what exactly happened but they’re both speaking to detectives now to sort it all out.
“Too often in our profession outcomes of stories are sad. The fact that she’s safe, the fact that we have all the parties here, we’ll take success when we can,” Ryan said.
Police are still sorting out the relationship between the man and woman. Both came to the police station willingly.
Preliminarily, the woman told detectives she was bleeding because she fell in the cab. At this point, no charges have been filed.
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