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Police Rescue Woman Held Unlawfully After Bad Drug Deal

Police and county authorities arrested three people after they held a young woman for $700 ransom Sunday night in Tullytown.

A scary Sunday evening for a young woman in Tullytown started with a drug deal gone bad.

Police responded to a call from a Shadetree Lane mother who stated she received a call just after 5 p.m. demanding $700 to be delivered to the women's bathroom at the Tullytown Taco Bell. If the mother didn’t comply, the voice on the phone said they would “blow her daughter’s head off,” according to court documents.

Officers responded to get more details from the mother. From the scene, county detectives were called to perform a wiretap to record further phone conversations between the suspects and the woman, Acting Chief Sgt. Dan Doyle said.

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More calls from the three suspects were received and authorities listened in and recorded them, the acting chief said.

The mother told the trio that she was unable to collect $700 on a Sunday night and she could only produce a few hundred, Doyle said. She also convinced the suspects to retrieve the money from her house.

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When the trio dropped the victim at her mother’s house, she went inside and officers captured the group as they sat in their car. Police later determined no weapons were present in the car, Doyle told Patch.

Levittown residents Shawn Theresa Gruber, 21, Nicole Gruber, 20, and David B. Sherman, 21, were arrested by borough officers.

According to Doyle, the unlawful restraint incident started when the young woman was attempting to buy $700 worth of drugs for the trio at a local supermarket. Instead of getting drugs, the dealers allegedly robbed her and fled.

Shawn Gruber, the affidavit states, did not take the news of the robbery well and forced the young woman to get in her car and strip down. She then wanted the victim's mother to repay the $700. The subjects in the car searched the woman for money, Doyle said.

The three are charged with unlawful restraint and several other varying offenses, court records show. They were sent to county jail Monday morning and could not post bail.

Doyle said patrol officers alerted him of the incident while he was at home and he responded to the scene.

County Detectives and the District Attorney’s Office were notified because wiretapping can only be conducted in the state by certified law enforcement personnel. County Detectives are certified to conduct the recording.

The acting chief said via phone that he was thankful for county officials assistance during the incident.

 

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