Video captures moment woman escapes year-long captivity in New Jersey

BASS RIVER TWP., New Jersey (WPVI) -- New Jersey state police are asking for the public's help piecing together a timeline after a kidnapping victim escaped and ran to a nearby gas station for help.

A suspect in this case, 57-year-old James Parrillo, was arrested and charged with kidnapping, strangulation and aggravated assault.

The surveillance video from The Point gas station is harrowing.

The victim and a gas station attendant, Jammie Garthaus, enter the store and closed the door, locking it.

You can see the suspect on the other side.

"She came running and he was behind her and he was yelling, 'You don't want to do this,' and when she got close enough to me she was like, 'He kidnapped me.' So we both went inside and she locked the door and I called the cops," said Garthaus.

This all happened on February 7.

Garthaus and her boss took the woman into the back room to help her calm down until police arrived.

New Jersey State Police say Parrillo was taken into custody that day.

"The fact that she was able to escape and make it to safety, her actions are really the reason why Mr. Parrillo has been apprehended," said Col. Patrick Callahan, superintendent of New Jersey State Police.

Police say Parrillo had been using the name Brett Parker and met the victim in New Mexico in February 2022.

She agreed to give him a ride to Arizona and the two began a voluntary relationship.

She told police he assaulted her in California, taking her phone and debit cards.

They allegedly arrived in New Jersey in December and had been renting a room in Bass River when she escaped.

"She said that she had scoped this place last time she was in here with me," said Garthaus. "She saw that we had a deadbolt so she knew if she could make it here, she could lock the door."

State police are now trying to piece together a timeline for Parrillo, and want to know if he's victimized others in his travels.

"We're just asking even if somebody believes that they think that information or that encounter is insignificant we ask that they come forward and reach out," said Callahan.

Anyone with information is asked to call New Jersey State Police at 855-363-6548.

Action News was unable to reach Parrillo's attorney on Tuesday for comment.

Garthaus said she recently heard from the victim via text message.

She told Garthaus, "God has already been helping me with everything," and asked people to donate to Volunteers of America to help others.