OLEAN, N.Y. -- Police in Olean say a man accused of holding a woman captive for weeks inside his North Union Street apartment kidnapped his victim once she accepted a ride from him.
Karen Peer is lucky to be alive, said the police captain leading the investigation.
Meanwhile, Francis O'Donnell, 61, is in the Cattaraugus County Jail.
Police said Peer, 35, was standing outside Olean Public Library on North Second St. when O'Donnell approached, and she accepted a ride from him.
Police aren’t sure where Peer was headed, but at some point, she wound up in O'Donnell's 2nd story apartment inside the Olean House. That's where Peer was held hostage, according to Olean Police Captain Robert Blovsky, who says O'Donnell also committed other crimes against her.
O'Donnell has been a tenant there for six years and his is one of 60 apartments located inside the secured facility. Leaders with the Olean Housing Authority tell us they're shocked and surprised about what took place.
Police say about three weeks after she went missing, Peer’s family then notified officers, who then immediately began their search.
A break in the case came earlier this week, when Blovsky says videotape surveillance showed O'Donnell dropped Peer off at Olean General Hospital with a number of injuries. That's where she called police to report what had happened. She is listed in stable condition.
"As we all see on TV, there's a lot of stuff going on. We're just happy she's alive, the family's happy. She needs to recover and get back to her life now," said Blovsky.
O'Donnell was arrested Tuesday and sent to the Cattaraugus County Jail in Little Valley. He's charged with kidnapping, though the case is now in the hands of the District Attorney's Office. Additional charges are pending.
Police say O'Donnell has no criminal history. A preliminary hearing is tentatively set for Friday.