A Connecticut doctor was kidnapped and taken on a $6,000 spending spree across the Bronx by his alleged captor in late July, according to the New York Post.
The doctor’s alleged kidnapper also threatened to shoot him during the ordeal, the outlet reported Wednesday, citing police. The 32-year-old victim was identified as Michael Bautista, an ophthalmologist and cataract surgeon. Anthony Benjamin, a 42-year-old Bronx man who went by the name “Tony G’s,” is accused to taking Bautista hostage outside Brooklyn Mirage, according to the NY Post.
Doctor kidnapped outside Brooklyn Mirage paid for a $6,000 spending spree that included pizza, shoes and a strip club trip https://t.co/7IpGAXjXpW pic.twitter.com/8DGYx6GTQk
— New York Post (@nypost) August 17, 2023
The suspect allegedly threatened Bautista with a gun if he tried “anything funny” before forcing the doctor to pay for his spending spree, the outlet continued. (RELATED: Man Armed With Explosives Holds Hostage At Gunpoint In Amsterdam Apple Store. Hours-Long Standoff Ends With Police Officer Running Him Over)
They went to a strip club and a Foot Locker, getting smoothies and pizza along the way, law enforcement sources told the NY Post. They also went to Benjamin’s barber, who cut and styled the suspect’s purple-and-black braided hair, according to a Norwalk Police Department incident report cited by the outlet.
The doctor reportedly spent more than $1,800 at 4U House of Fitted Caps, $1,700 on Foot Locker, $1,100 at Foxy Fitness and Pole and $570 on food.
Bautista tried to remain calm throughout the situation, according to the NY Post. However, Benjamin allegedly said he had “put people in body bags before” and that he wasn’t afraid to “let bullets fly.”
Bautista eventually told Connecticut hospital security guards about the situation that had begun outside the Brooklyn Mirage after a 10 p.m. show, the NY Post reported. Benjamin had been in the backseat of the taxi Bautista had hired to take him to his car, which was parked a few streets away from the music venue, according to the outlet.
The doctor allegedly told Benjamin he was on call at the hospital that weekend, and that it would start to look strange if he never showed up to work. Benjamin agreed to bring Bautista back to Norwalk Hospital, as long as Bautista told his colleagues Benjamin was there as a visiting doctor, according to the NY Post.
Police arrested Benjamin at the hospital and charged him with second-degree kidnapping with a firearm and possession of a controlled substance. His bond was set at $1 million. He was later released after promising to appear in court, according to court records cited by the NY Post.