Woman breaks out of accused kidnapper Negasi Zuberi’s cinder block cell with her bare hands in Oregon garage: authorities

An Oregon man was arrested for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman who managed to escape from a makeshift cinder block cell in his garage, authorities said.

The FBI’s Portland field office announced Wednesday that they captured Negasi Zuberi, 29, after a sex worker he allegedly abducted beat down the cell door “with her hands until they were bloody,” successfully breaking it open and running down the street to flag a motorist for help.

“According to the complaint, this woman was kidnapped, chained, sexually assaulted, and locked in a cinderblock cell,” Stephanie Shark, the assistant special agent in charge, said in a statement. “Her quick thinking and will to survive may have saved other women from a similar nightmare.”

Officials said Zuberi, who is a suspect in four sexual assault cases in other states, traveled to Seattle on July 15 to pick up a prostitute.

The victim told investigators that is when she met Zuberi, who posed as an undercover officer and pointed a taser at her before handcuffing her and forcing her into the back of his car.

He then drove about 450 miles to his home in Klamath Falls, while sexually assaulting her multiple times along the way, according to the Portland FBI.

At his home at 1336 N Eldorado Ave., the victim told police was tossed into the cinder block cell Zuberi created in his garage.

After the woman escaped, Zuberi fled the area but was tracked down to Reno, Nevada, the following day, where he was taken by police following a 45-minute standoff, officials said.

Zuberi was in Reno with his wife, and had attempted to destroy his phone and cut himself during the stand off, according to the arresting documents.

Officials said they believe that more of Zuberi’s victims may be out there given the four of the sexual assault cases levied against him.

The Portland FBI noted that since 2016, Zuberi has lived in New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, Utah, Florida, Nevada and Alabama.

He is also known to have used the names Sakima, Justin Hyche and Justin Kouassi, and may have raped victims by posing as a police officer or drugging drinks, officials added.

Zuberi was taken to the Washoe County Jail, in Reno, and faces life in prison if convicted on interstate kidnapping charges.