A woman who was chained to the floor of a Kentucky home for two days was freed by police in a dramatic rescue that was captured on newly released body-camera video.
Louisville Metro police responded to the dilapidated house on Bolling Avenue around 7pm on Wednesday after neighbours reported hearing cries for help.
The doors and several of the windows were barricaded, forcing officers to break in through a second-storey window where they came face-to-face with the distressed woman.
Chilling footage shows the unidentified woman sobbing hysterically as police reached her. She was bolted to the floor with screws that were attached to a chain and secured around her neck by a MasterLock.
Moises May, 36, who was arrested two days later, was keeping the woman locked up following an argument that turned violent, according to the police report obtained by WAVE3.
The woman had left the night of the argument but returned the next day to collect her belongings when Mr May locked her inside a deadbolted room after taking her phone, police said.
Mr May, who lives at the home with the woman and their child, allegedly chopped her hair off with a machete, forced her to strip down before he chained her to the floor and threatened to kill her.
“You’re gonna get it tonight. I told you the next time you leave and don’t come home, I’d kill you,” Mr May reportedly told her, according to the police report.
The woman’s cries for help were finally heard after she managed to break the second-storey window.
Bodycam footage shows the dramatic rescue of a woman who was left chained to the floor of a Kentucky home for two days— (Louisville Police Department)
Louisville police officers had to use a ladder to reach the second floor of the dilapidated home where they found the woman being held captive— (Louisville Police Department)
Police found a hatchet and were able to cut the chain that was holding the woman to the floor— (Louisville Police Department)
When officers reached the woman in the grimy room on Wednesday evening and struggled to free her from the chains, she can be heard on the video telling the police that her captor kept the key to the lock on his keychain.
“The woman had a chain around her neck, which was secured by a MasterLock, and that chain was bolted to the floor with screws,” the department said.
Police located a hatchet in the home and were able to cut through the chain and free the woman. She continued to cry and shake as she was led outside to be treated by EMS.
Mr May was arrested two days later and charged with one count of kidnapping, intimidating a participant in the legal process, wanton endangerment, assault, terroristic threatening and harassment.
His bond was set at $100,000 and he is scheduled to reappear in court on 28 August.
