Charges have been filed against a man for kidnapping and robbing three women last weekend, including one who got into a stolen car she thought was an Uber ride in Westport.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, a Jamerl M. Wortham, 30, of Kansas City, Kansas has been charged in federal court with carjacking, using a firearm during the carjacking, kidnapping and using a firearm during the kidnapping.
Here’s the complex story court papers tell:
Wortham told investigators he had met the other two men earlier for the first time and agreed to rob someone at an ATM with them and the three stole a Jaguar at a gas station. They looked for someone to rob at a BP gas station at 47th and the Paseo.
A woman says she was standing outside Harpo’s Bar in Westport about 11 p.m. on Friday waiting for an Uber ride she had ordered. She got into the Jaguar, thinking it was from Uber, but it turned out to be a stolen car driven by Wortham.
The three men with the woman from Westport then went downtown where they watched an ATM. They forced their way into a red Toyota occupied by two women who were depositing their paychecks about 2 a.m.
They drove the women to ATMs and forced them to withdraw money, and the victims said one of the men forced them to smoke PCP. Wortham then drove off with one of the victims in the Jaguar but was taken into custody by Kansas City, Kansas police.
The woman in the car said she did not mention the kidnapping to police then because the men had threatened to harm them. But she later went to Central Patrol Station in Kansas City to report that she and two other women had been kidnapped.
The other two kidnappers allegedly took the other two women to Blue Springs where they bought drugs and then to Kansas City. They told police they were able to escape after 9 a.m.
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