A woman who was abducted at gunpoint from work Monday afternoon in Deerfield Beach was reunited with her family, and her kidnapper was arrested after he surrendered to the Coral Springs SWAT team.
28-year-old Latonya Peak’s seven-hour ordeal began shortly after 1 p.m. when she and a co-worker returned to the Amadeo Trinchitella clinic, commonly referred to as the Deerfield Beach High School Health Center, after lunch. The two were in the back parking lot of the clinic when they were approached by the gunman, later identified as Vinson Jerome Rattray Jr., 22, a patient at the clinic.
The women ran in opposite directions when Rattray approached. Peak’s co-worker was able to run to safety, but Rattray forced Peak into his vehicle and fled the scene.
About an hour later, and 12 miles away, investigators found the getaway car, a silver Dodge Charger, parked right across the street from Coral Springs Medical Center.
"I knew there had been a kidnapping," Barbara Babinec, who lives in the neighborhood, told Local 10's Baron James. "And all of a sudden I saw police going past my back window with the rifles. And we were scared."
Finally, seven hours after the abduction, the accused abductor peacefully surrendered to police after they surrounded Greenacres apartment 11. A second unidentified man inside the apartment Monday night was taken into police custody. The victim, LaToya Peek appeared physically unharmed.
She had recently talked to her coworkers about getting a restraining order against Vinson Rattray, Jr.
"You can say stalking her, BSO Spokeswoman, Veda Coleman-Wright said. "There had been phone calls, emails. And she had to get her number changed. And she is very scared after the ordeal she's gone through."
No charges had been filed Monday night. But Rattray served prison time for cocaine manufacturing and selling.