OREGON, USA — Newly released photos show how an Oregon man accused of kidnapping a woman and locking her in a cinder block cell allegedly tried to break out of jail.
On August 22, deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office caught Negasi Zuberi, 29, trying to break through the glass window in his cell.
Police photos, obtained through a public records request, show a plastic sandal with a screw attached. Investigators say the improvised tool was used to chip the jail cell window.
A Jackson County maintenance worker outside the building warned deputies after hearing a suspicious noise coming from inside one of the cells. The exterior windows in the Jackson County jail are made of reinforced glass, so Zuberi was only able to damage the interior layer of the window, deputies explained.
Zuberi was moved to a hard cell with no windows. After the incident, prosecutors charged Zuberi with attempted escape and criminal mischief. The case was quickly dismissed.
Zuberi remains in the Jackson County jail in Medford, while awaiting trial on both state and federal charges.
In July, local police and the FBI arrested Zuberi in Reno after a 45-minute stand-off. Federal prosecutors claim Zuberi kidnapped a woman in Seattle, posed as a police officer and drove her 450 miles to his home in Klamath Falls. There, he locked the woman in a make-shift cinderblock cell in his garage, according to the FBI. The woman escaped by beating down the cell.
Local prosecutors also charged Zuberi in a separate case. Prosecutors claim in May that he raped a woman at gunpoint in Klamath County. No other details have been released.
The FBI says Zuberi has multiple aliases and has lived in 12 states over the last decade. The FBI is hoping to identify potential victims of Zuberi. It created an online questionnaire for anyone who may have been victimized.
