Pittsburgh, PA (PPP)— A Jamaican immigrant has been charged with kidnapping after he allegedly pointed a gun at his intimate partner’s son and drove off with her.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Magisterial District Court, Desmond Thomas, 35, was suspicious that his intimate partner was cheating on him and began an argument with her.

Thomas wanted to leave the scene in her car when the victim’s son tried to stop him. Thomas then pointed the gun at the victim’s son before forcing her to leave, according to the complaint.

A BOLO was subsequently broadcast for the vehicle. Thomas was stopped in a felony traffic stop and arrested, according to the complaint.

Name: Desmond Thomas
Gender: Male
Age: 35

Agency: Pittsburgh Police Department

Court: Magisterial District Court 05-0-03
Docket Number: MJ-05003-CR-0002027-2023
Date Filed: April 12, 2023

Bail: N/A
Confinement: Allegheny County Jail
Confinement Reason: Bail denied: victim safety. Note: Bail was changed to nonmonetary by the Common Pleas Court on April 17.

Criminal Charges

1. Kidnapping for ransom (Felony 1)
2. Possession of a weapon (Misdemeanor 1)
3. Simple assault (Misdemeanor 2)
4. Simple assault (Misdemeanor 2)
5. Simple assault (Misdemeanor 2)
6. Recklessly endangering another person (Misdemeanor 2)
7. Recklessly endangering another person (Misdemeanor 2)
8. False Imprisonment (Misdemeanor 2)

Affidavit of Probable Cause

On 04/12/2023 at 0130 hours, I, Officer Smith (#4850) and Officer Ptak (#4857) were dispatched to ████████████ for a gun threat.

Upon arrival, Officers made contact with the caller ███████ outside his residence. He stated that his step-father, Desmond Thomas, had just left the residence in his mother’s vehicle with his mother inside. ███████ stated that Thomas pointed a firearm at him outside the vehicle prior to leaving, and ordered his mother ███████ to get in the vehicle with him. He stated that he believed Thomas was upset with his mother because he believed her to be cheating on him, ███████ also stated that he overheard Thomas say that he had been following his mother all night and knew where she had been.

███████ stated that he confronted Thomas, stating to him that he did not want his mother to leave with him. ███████ described Thomas has exhibiting angry and erratic behavior, and was concerned that he may hurt his mother if they left. ███████ made contact with his mother and Thomas at his mother’s vehicle, a red Mazda CX-5 (PA: ███████), and asked his mom not to leave. Thomas interjected and told ███████ that he was out of tine for getting involved and order him back to the house. When he declined to do so, ███████ stated that Thomas retrieved a silver and gold handgun from his waistband and dropped it on the ground, before picking it up and pointing it directly at ███████. ███████ told Thomas that he would have to shoot him, because he would not let his mother leave with him in this state.

███████ stated ███████ then stepped in between the two, and Thomas continued to point the firearm at the both of them. ███████ pleaded for her son to go inside the house and decided to get in the car. ███████ believed the only reason she decided to re-enter the vehicle is to protect her son from possibly being shot or kilted. ███████ stated he and his mother both feared for their lives at that point and believed Thomas would be reckless enough to pull the trigger.

███████ stated that their family is from Jamaica and moved to the U.S. less than two years ago. He stated Thomas has done something similar to this incident before when in Jamaica.

Officers were able to locate a copy of the registration paperwork from the home and put the vehicle plate and description over the air. Officers also requested a phone ping for ███████’s cell phone and requested a County wide BOLO for the vehicle. The result of the most recent ping at ████████████ at 0235 hours and Zone 1 Officers responded to that location. Officer Castanzo (Unit 3125) located this vehicle at Buente St./Varley St. and conducted a felony traffic stop. This location is approximately 3.7 miles from the residence, and was found parked with the lights off in the middle of Varley Street in a residential area.

Officer Castanzo and responding units hailed the occupants out of the vehicle, and verified the identity of the driver as Desmond Thomas and front passenger ███████. Both were initially detained in handcuffs at 0244 hours. Medics were called to the scene for ███████, as she stated she was experiencing considerable head pain from being physically assaulted by Thomas. She stated that he was punched and hit in the head area approximately 40 times while they were inside the vehicle and traveling I observed a large lump behind her left ear, a cut on her finger, and a ripped out braid on the ride side of her head with fresh blood on it.

███████ and Thomas are intimate partners and have been together for 10 plus years. While waiting for medics, Officer Ptak conducted an LAP form with ███████ and contacted the women’s shelter advocate (███████). ███████ was assessed high risk and spoke to the advocate on scene. Medic 10 evaluated ███████ and she was cleared on scene declining transport. I then interviewed ███████, who corroborated her son’s version of events. She was very clearly in distress and had been crying, and stated that Officers likely saved her life today. She confirmed that Thomas had pointed the firearm at her and her son, and she did not want to get in the vehicle with Thomas. ███████ stated he has severe anger issues and based on the fact that he was using his firearm to threaten her son, she got back in the vehicle to protect her son from possibly being killed. She stated to Officers that she did not know where Thomas was planning on taking her and was driving all over the place. She stated that she could not use her phone during this time because it was locked out,

Thomas was read his Miranda rights and agreed to speak with Officers. I asked him about the events of today and why they ended up so far from home. He stated that he believed ███████ was cheating on him and he went through her phone for evidence. He came home and wanted to have a talk with her about the situation, and that’s when his step-son ███████ got involved. I asked if he pulled his firearm out and pointed it at ███████ or ███████ and he stated he did not. He stated he already had the firearm in his hand when he left the house and entered/re-entered his vehicle. I asked about the physical injuries on ███████, and he stated that they were “wrestling” a little and specifically over the phone, and agreed that her hair braid was ripped out. I asked Thomas about the phone and why she would not answer all the phone calls she was receiving, and he stated that a struggle over the phone led to the phone screen becoming locked out for an hour. Thomas does possess a valid concealed carry permit and is the purchaser of the firearm.

In plain view inside the vehicle underneath the driver’s seat was the silver/gold plated firearm previously described by ███████. As ███████ is the sole registered owner of the vehicle, I asked her if Thomas typically drives her vehicle on a regular basis as well and she said he does not, she is the primary user of the vehicle. She provided her verbal consent for officers specifically to retrieve the firearm from her vehicle. I then recovered (Exhibit 1) a silver/gold plated Kimber Pro Carry 11.45 caliber handgun (S/N: KR298215) from that location. It was cleared and made safe, with one .45 round exiting the chamber and three (3) in the magazine. A (Exhibit A) tan gun holster was also recovered from Thomas’ waistline incident to arrest. Officer Clark (3121) transport Thomas to the ACJ via PBP Policy at 0316 hours and accepted.

███████ and her son recovered her vehicle from the scene to take back home.

Sgt. Lippert contacted on-call DA J. for approval of charges. I believe there to be sufficient probable cause for the arrest of Desmond Thomas for the charges applied.

EVIDENCE/PROPERTY LISTING:

–CRIME LAB EXHIBITS–
Exhibit 1: (1) Silver One (1) silver with gold plated handle Kimber Pro Carry
II .45 cat recovered by PO Smith, Zachary #4850 from
Thomas, Desmond from Underneath driver’s seat of Mazda
packaged by PO Smith„ Zachary #4850

–PROPERTY ROOM EXHIBITS–
Exhibit A: ( 1) Tan One (1) tan handgun holster recovered by PO Castanzo. Alex
#4590 from Thomas,Desmond from Desmond Thomas’ waistband
packaged by PO Castanzo. Alex #4890