Jamie Woughter
Justin Guedron
Cary Paradis
Three suspects are in facing kidnapping charges after they allegedly used Facebook to meet the victim and hold him hostage at gunpoint.
On Saturday, police were notified of a kidnapping/robbery on Browns Ferry Road, and that the victim had been transported to Dayton Boulevard where he had been able to call for help. Once police arrived, they spoke to the victim, who said he had accepted a friend request on Facebook from Jamie Woughter, 43. The victim said the two had talked over the last day and decided to meet up.
The victim told police he was staying at the Howard Johnson Hotel on Browns Ferry, and had walked to the Dollar General down the road to talk to Ms. Woughter. He told police he got into her vehicle, and then they exited the parking lot and drove down the road before she turned into a gravel lot and parked behind a Chevy. When the victim asked about what was happening, he said she said nothing.
The victim said a man with a closely-shaved head exited the passenger side of the truck with a pistol in hand. He said the man ordered the victim to get out of the vehicle at gunpoint and told him to get into the trunk of the vehicle. The victim said the man took his wallet, closed the trunk, and the vehicle began to move.
He said that once the vehicle stopped, the trunk opened again and he was ordered to get out at gunpoint. At this point, they had reached 5002 Dayton Blvd, where the victim was forced into the bathroom. While inside, he said he heard two men and a woman talking about money, and heard one of the men asking about the pin to his debit card. The man said he would let the victim go if he gave the pin number.
The victim told the men he did not have any money on that debit card, and the only money he had was less than $100 in his account. The victim told police he heard the individuals leave, so he tried to open the door, which seemed stuck. After kicking the door open, he saw they had placed a dresser in front of the door to keep him inside.
After he stepped outside the door, he said he heard Ms. Woughter yelling that he was out of the bathroom. The victim told police he tried to grab her in order to stop her from yelling and getting the two men’s attention. This failed, so after Ms. Woughter ran out the main door, he put a dresser in front of the door to prevent re-entry.
One of the men, identified as Cary Paradis, 43, took a cinder block and threw it through the front window in order to get in. The victim said he threw several items at Paradis to stop him from getting back in. The victim yelled that he was calling 911, and at that point all three fled the scene in the same vehicle he observed earlier.
While on the way to the victim, an officer said he saw a Chevy S-10 travelling south on Dayton Boulevard, and made a stop at that location near Ashland Terrace. Police said Ms. Woughter, Paradis, and Justin Guedron, 44, were all inside. Police said a bag with a black handgun and 113 grams of methamphetamine were found inside.
Paradis told police he got a call from Ms. Woughter, and she sounded like she was in danger so he went to her home. He said he threw a cinder block through the window in order to get to her.
Paradis said he later learned she was not in the apartment, and was rather in a friend’s apartment. When she came out, they hopped into the Chevy and left the scene before being stopped. Neither Paradis nor Guedron claimed to know anything about what had just happened. Both were transported to the Hamilton County Jail and charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault.
While at the jail, police said Ms. Woughter told them she met the victim on Facebook, and that the two had hung out at her home and that he had fallen asleep on her recliner. She told the police the victim had been talking about drugs, and because she did not like drugs, she took his backpack and went into the bathroom in order to look through it for drugs.
She also told police she took his wallet and placed it in the back of his pants “so she could identify who she was hanging out with.” She said she found a bag with drugs inside, felt scared, and called Paradis to come over. She said the victim woke up and became angry because his wallet and drugs were missing, and Ms. Woughter said he tried to keep her in the home and placed a dresser in front of the door to keep her from leaving.
She told police she pulled out a knife, got past him, and left the area in the Chevy with Guedron and Paradis. Because police noted the contradictions between the three suspects’ stories and the victim’s account, Ms. Woughter, too, was charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery.