An Italian man who was tortured and held against his will inside a Manhattan apartment for several weeks managed to escape his captors and get help, according to police sources.
Police have arrested one of the alleged kidnappers, who they have identified as John Woeltz, 37, a crypto trader from Kentucky.
Woeltz was charged with two counts of assault and one count each of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm.
The 28-year-old victim managed to escape the apartment near the corner of Prince and Mulberry Sts. at about 10 a.m. Friday morning and flagged down a traffic agent, who immediately contacted police, a second police source said.
The man told police that he met Woeltz through their shared interest in crypto currency. He arrived in the U.S. on May 6 and went to Woeltz’s apartment, where his passport was taken from him and he was tied up and tortured, police sources said.
Cops did not immediately disclose how the man was tortured, but police sources told the Daily News he had been bound with electrical tape and tased.
After the kidnapping was reported, cops went to the Prince St. apartment, where they found a firearm and Polaroid pictures of the victim being tied up and tortured. Woeltz allegedly tried to extort the man for millions of dollars in crypto currency, police sources said.
NYPD officers stand outside a home on Prince St. near Mulberry St. in Manhattan on Friday, May 23, 2025, where a man was allegedly held against his will. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
NYPD officers stand outside a home on Prince St. near Mulberry St. in Manhattan on Friday, May 23, 2025, where a man was allegedly held against his will. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
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NYPD officers stand outside a home on Prince St. near Mulberry St. in Manhattan on Friday, May 23, 2025, where a man was allegedly held against his will. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
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Two other people were in the apartment when cops arrived, but they are believed to be housekeepers and building staff, a police source said.
Woeltz was taken into custody and was being questioned by NYPD detectives. “He hasn’t said anything. He lawyered up immediately,” a police source said.
Woeltz has been featured as a speaker at several cryptocurrency conferences, and has “nearly a decade of experience with technology startups in Silicon Valley,” according to online profiles.
A witness said he saw police escort a “clean-shaven, respectable”-looking man wearing a white bathrobe out of the building in handcuffs Friday morning, around the time the victim escaped. “The guy comes out in a white bathrobe, barefoot, hands cuffed behind his back, got into a police car,” said Ciaran Tully, 64, a vendor who sells photographs on Prince St.
The man did not say anything as he was brought out by police, Tully said. “He didn’t look concerned. He didn’t look worried or anything like that,” he said.
“He looked like to be in his mid to late thirties. He looked like a businessman … He looked like if he were to put on a suit, that’s what he would be putting on. He looked good,” Tully said.
Tully, who lives in the East Village, was shocked to hear about the alleged crimes.
“That is news to me. I would not have guessed anything like that,” Tully said. “I’m shocked, absolutely.
“You wouldn’t expect it. I mean, all the apartments around here are very expensive,” he added. “From outside it looks like a beautiful house.”
Woeltz had reportedly been renting out the Prince St. residence for between $30,000 and $40,000 a month.
A woman is also in custody and another man is also still being sought in connection with the crime, according to a police source.
Originally Published: May 23, 2025 at 2:48 PM EDT
