Listen for free View show details . Forty hours later, one of the captors decided to let them go when a SWAT team entered the house freeing the pair. "A normal person that you meet up with is not gonna tell that to the police, so we knew that it wasn't normal.". His gridiron goal became a reality at the University of Rochester in New York. The students were reported missing Saturday evening, hours after they were last seen near the school. Lydell Strickland, 26, was sentenced to155 years in prison for planning the attack as well as charges ofrobbery, assault and sex abuse. Nicholas is now trying to move on with his life. 'I do want to point out this was a directed event and we have no information or evidence of any kind that this constituted a general threat to the University of Rochester community, nor do we have any information or evidence that there is a threat or safety concern to the University of Rochester community at this point,' he said, according to the Democrat & Chronicle. The abductors used two women to persuade the UR students to go with them to the Harvest Street house. As of 2007, the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 19,195. Strickland and company then wanted revenge. Seniors Ani Okeke Ewo of Aurora, Illinois, and Nicholas Kollias of Northbrook, Illinois, both 21, were last seen Saturday around 2 a.m. near campus in a white 2005 BMW SUV, according to the . The two men were then taken into the bathroom and had their hands and feet taped together and were tortured with hedge clippers and other improvised weapons before being sexually assaulted for the next 40 hours. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. While one of the kidnappers records, two of the others are seen threatening Ani Okeke Ewo with a hedge-trimmer, and then prodding Nicholas lying on the floor covered in blood. A month later, all of the perpetrators are in custody: nine in total, five men and four women. In December 2015, Nicholas Kollias and fellow senior Ani Okeke Ewo, both University of Rochester football players, were kidnapped near the New York campus. "They were drinking and having a good time while there were people dying in the other room," he said. This provider has 31 years of experience and is affiliated with Leesburg Regional Medical Center. Rochester police say a SWAT team rescued the two University of Rochester students around 9:20 p.m. Sunday. Kollias described his torture and stated that the gang jabbed knives under their toes, doused them with flammable liquid, threatened to set them on fire, sexuallyassaulted them and fired a gun near their heads. But then Kollias described being jarred by the sound of multiple explosions. Lydell Strickland, 26, Dennis Perez, 23, and Leah Gigliotti, 20, all of Rochester, and Samantha Hughes, 19, of Pittsford, are charged with first-degree kidnapping, while Inalia Rolldan, 19, and Ruth Lora, 19, both of Rochester, face charges of second-degree kidnapping, a Rochester Police spokeswoman tells PEOPLE. Lydell Strickland gets 155 years to life. "I'm not going to close my eyes. "The cellphone video was clearly, in my opinion, the most essential piece of evidence and perhaps yes, also the most damning as well," said Schwartz. What was the monsters' motive for perpetrating this horrific crime? Ani Okeke Ewo has never been considered anything other than a victim. "The plan really was to basically drain all the bank accounts," said Scott Peters. They don't even know if it's the right house. When Kollias jumped up to flee the house, he was shot in the leg, which broke his femur. 13:40 EDT 11 Dec 2015 Lora and Rolldan face kidnapping and criminal possession of a weapon charges. Leah Gigliotti:Two counts of first-degree gang assault. Police said Nicholas Kollias of Northbrook, Illinois, and Ani Okeke Ewo, of Aurora, Illinois, were abducted and held hostage. At trial, Ani Okeke Ewo and Nicholas "Niko" Kollias testified about how they were duped to go to a city home by two young women who claimed they wanted to party with them. "So they'd give us a little bit of a lead and we'd be able to follow up on that, we'd wind up in the dead end, we'd have to come back and get more information. "Please! As the sun began to set on Sunday, Kollias thought he was going to die from his injuries. The New York Daily Newsreports Kollias has since graduated and moved back to the Chicago area, where he still undergoes physical therapy twice a week and works in financial services. Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude. He may have made it there, but he wasn't home free. "As we started to put all this whole story together, we realized something really was not right," said Rochester Police Deputy Chief Scott Peters. "After about six hours we were able to get a couple of good locations where these girls last saw Nico and Ani," said Peters. 00:11 EDT 12 Dec 2015. "Then before I knew it we showed up at the house.". Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, both University of Rochesterfootball players from Illinois, were lured to a home for what they thought was a Saturday night house party. and Growing up in an upscale suburb of Chicago, Nicholas Kollias was the all-American high school kid. But is all this really just about money? ', The university spokesman issued a separate statement, saying: 'The University of Rochester is grateful to the Rochester Police Department for the sustained efforts that led to the swift arrests and charges in the abduction of our two students. What had seemed like an innocent college date night was suddenly looking like a vicious setup. "Honestly, while they were bathing me, they had other individuals who were cleaning the house and bleaching everything down," said Nicholas. Matthew Schwartz, one of the lead prosecutors in the case, marveled that the students were able to survive. Seminole Wars, (1817-18, 1835-42, 1855-58), three conflicts between the United States and the Seminole Indians of Florida in the period before the American Civil War that ultimately resulted in the opening of the Seminole's desirable land for white exploitation and settlement. A former Upstate New York studentis speaking out for the first time about the abuse and torture he suffered when abducted in December 2015. "It was dark out and from the outside it seemed like a decent house," said Nicholas. They'd take our wallet, everything from me, my keys, my phone, my wallet.". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Police did not offer a motive for the alleged kidnapping, but University President Joel Seligman issued a statement Monday saying: I will, at an appropriate time in the near future, be able to provide more detail about this very serious, but isolated, incident.. Did he feel like when they're washing him, they going to let him go? Police said Nicholas Kollias, of Northbrook, Illinois, and Ani Okeke Ewo, of Aurora, Illinois, were abducted and held hostage, and one suffered a gunshot wound to the leg. 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There was just that much," said Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Matthew Schwartz. Police said they were . Cops believe the students were rescued in the nick of time. Not long after Nicholas and Ani meet them in the parking lot of Nicholas's apartment. The First Seminole War (1817-18) began over attempts by U.S. authorities to recapture runaway Black slaves . When the kidnapping turn out to be a mistake of identity and resulted in complex deceit where drug dealer Smith had arranged an earlier fake robbery earlier. Release of the indictments, while partly redacted for sensitivity, offered a harrowing glimpse intowhat UR President Joel Seligman would later describe as the "intimidating and demeaning treatment" that the pair endured. While cops are quickly working to identify who these two women are, Nicholas and Ani are coming to grips with the reality that there's no way out. It's now Sunday night, 9 p.m., almost 40 hours into this kidnapping nightmare. He also filed a $10 million lawsuit against those convicted in the abduction. "They started saying that I was lying to them and that my cards weren't working anymore and then they said that they were going to kill us.". "At that point I got up, trying to run for the exit," Nicholas Kollias, now 22, testified Thursday about the attack that precipitated the hours of torture he and classmate, Ani Okeke Ewo, were . I was thinking about my family, parents and God. As the investigation begins, cops find a stomach-churning video on one of the violent kidnapper's cellphones. Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, both seniors at the university, were reported missing on Saturday. Kollias testified that he concluded his abductors were planning to keep him alive only until the banks opened on Monday morning and they could finish draining his accounts. The gang members arrested were Lydell Strickland, 26, Dennis Perez, 23, Leah Gigliotti, 20, Samantha Hughes, 19, Inalia Rolldan,19, and David Alcaraz-Ubiles. "So it was almost as if they were like trying to cover their tracks.". Jurors were shown a cellphone video that captured a portion of the ordeal. He also had shards of glass embedded in his eardrum when a light bulb was smashed on his head. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. It is surrounded by Pinellas County enclaves in all directions. "This is gonna be a hostage rescue," said Peters. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/26/2023). The second victim [Kollias] being involved was pure happenstance, Schwartz told the Tribune. And even though they had nothing to do with the criminal activity, Ewo was mistakenly identified as one of the robbers by a gang. "The house just lit up and just shook," said Nicholas. ", "We rolled the dice on the first house we hit was the correct one," said Peters. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? There, they. "I thought about my parents and how much I mean to them and how much they mean to me and I didn't want this to be the end," said Nicholas. Strickland faces the most serious charges, including kidnapping and gang assault. University President Joel Seligman issued a statement Monday saying: 'I will, at an appropriate time in the near future, be able to provide more detail about this very serious, but isolated, incident. 'I can tell you that my client was misled in her alleged helping of getting them there,' he said. Print fond memoriesThis pocket Bluetooth printer lets you print your precious memories before they hit Instagram. Cancela en cualquier momento. I didn't want to die and give in to these people.". "There were just multiple banks all over the city of Rochester that Lydell Strickland was seen using Nicolas's TD Ameritrade card," said Monroe County Assistant District Attorney Christine Callanan. "I just feel like with everything that happened, I feel like he had more to do with it than he will ever admit," said Nicholas Kollias. "It's clearly his face. The pair of ladies were high and drunk, with Hughes having taken weed and Gigliotti snorting cocaine, although they passed some booze back to Ewo and Kollias to get them high before setting off. The next morning the two football students were reported missing and campus officials started an investigation, being in luck, one of their teammates remembered the girl who tried to friend him on Facebook and let the investigators know. "The torture consists of something you would see in a movie, but it's not a movie because this is real life," he said. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Associated Press It's believed that the first four lured University of Rochester football playerAni Okeke Ewo and former football player Nicholas Kollias to a house on Harvest Street and proceeded to beat them with fists and clubs, demanding their money, credit cards and bank numbers. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. "I am not going to let these individuals mess up the rest of my life, and so that's why I am trying to be optimistic and just positive and move forward in the best way that I can.". Our focus as a university is on our two students as they recover from their ordeal. The network's E:60 show at 9 a.m. Sunday will feature an interview with Nicholas Kollias, one of the two Yellowjackets who was kidnapped and tortured for 40 hours in 2015. apparently were victims of mistaken identity, Mistaken identity may have led abductors to UR students, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. David Alcaraz-Ubiles, one of his co-defendants, was found guilty of kidnapping and weapons charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison, which he will serve after completing a separate 15-year sentence for an unrelated crime. (Rochester Police. Being abducted and abused has to be one of the worst things one could encounter in life, something you cant even wish for a foe. University of Rochester students Ani Okeke Ewo, left, and Nicholas Kollias are seen in undated photos distributed by authorities after their 2015 abduction. I always wanted to continue playing football in college. This then led to gang members plotting revenge and organizing the kidnapping. But soon the changing scenery catches Nicholas's attention. Nicholas plans to file a civil suit against the University of Rochester. Three of the defendants are sentenced to seven to 15 years in prison. Terms of Use | He still has a titanium rod in his left leg and a bullet lodged in his right calf. Nicholas Kollias (left) and Ani Okeke Ewo (right), both 21, were abducted on Saturday and rescued from a home near campus the next day. "And I was holding Ani's hand and I just knew that like one of these bullets were going to hit me and I was going to die.". Rolldan and Lora reportedly guarded the abducted students, until SWAT teams rescued the two on Sunday. Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, both 21-year-old students, were lured to a house several miles from campus for what they believed was a party. The second thing was both gentleman were prolific on social media, always updating what they were doing, where they were, and that it stopped cold Friday night. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". This week Evil Talks: Chilling Confessions spotlights the disturbing case of Ani Okeke Ewo and Nicholas Kollias, who were kidnapped and tortured in a drug related revenge attack. 2023 Telepictures Productions Inc. "I was the one that got the majority of all of the beating and abuse, and so, you know, it was just not a good experience to have someone who you thought you could trust and just kind of being the complete opposite to you.". On Wednesday, four people were sentenced in the December 2015 abduction and torture of two University of Rochester students, the Washington Post reports. Why don't you have the two girls come over to my apartment and we can hang out with them there.' The students jump in the girls' car and off they go. But there was one key piece of evidence the jurors would see. As Christine and I got ready for this trial, it was harder to figure out what we weren't going to use than it was to figure out what we were going to use. It's now Sunday morning at 22 Harvest Street, more than 30 hours in. She was with her friend and 20-year-old Leah Gigliotti to pick up Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo. But Nicholas wasn't all tackles and touchdowns. "At this point I got clubbed over the head, put on the ground. I got up as fast as I could and tried running to the side door," said Nicholas. This pocket Bluetooth printer lets you print your precious memories before they hit Instagram. Nine people were accused of roles in the abduction and torture of the two men. It does not store any personal data. "I'm not going to close my eyes. Things have reached a fever pitch. "He was like trying to untie us real fast.". We may earn a commission from links on this page. Shooting on Easter: 'It's Heart Wrenching', Suspect in Louisville Shooting Identified as 25-Year-Old Employee Connor Sturgeon: Police, the abduction of two University of Rochester students. They roll up. First the room went dark, then masked men, clothed in black, burst into the littered living room at the Harvest Street house. Ricky Ross has a handle on good business practices, Michael Maliakel and Dennis Stowe discuss diversity of Aladdin Broadway cast, Afro B taps into his traditional sound with latest song Casamigos, Timbaland was inspired by Mother Nature for some of his biggest hits, Beauty entrepreneur Aaliyah Thompson named a McDonalds Change Leader, Larenz Tate thinks Hollywood values Black British actors more. Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, both University of Rochester football players from Illinois, were lured to a home for what they thought was a Saturday night house party. Lydell Strickland, 26; Samantha Hughes, 19; Dennis Perez, 23; and Leah Gigliotti, 20, face charges of first-degree kidnapping while Inalia Rolldan, 19, and Ruth Lora, 19, are suspected of second-degree kidnapping. "That's when these individuals were holding me at gunpoint and they were making me call all these different financial institutions to get my withdrawal limits increased, and doing whatever they could to get money out of my accounts," said Nicholas. Nicholas Kollias and Ani Okeke Ewo, both University of Rochester football players from Illinois, were lured to a home for what they thought was a Saturday night house party. Nicholas says there's more to the story, and he's holding the University of Rochester responsible. However, on Sunday evening there was a huge explosion and flash as the SWAT team burst into the house and rescued the two men.
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