A Monroe County grand jury indictment has been unsealed, charging six defendants with crimes relating to the abduction last month of two University of Rochester students.
Those charged include David Alcaraz-Ubiles, Leah Gigliotti, Samantha Hughes, Dennis Perez, Inalia Rolldan, and Lydell Strickland.
The charges vary among the various suspects, but they include counts of kidnapping, assault, gang assault and predatory sexual assault.
It all relates to the incident that happened on December 5th, when two seniors, AniOkeke-Ewo and Nicholas Kollias, were last seen on the U of R Campus. About 15 hours later it was determined they were missing and on December 6th, a Rochester Police SWAT team helped rescue the two men from a house on Harvest Street.
The Monroe County District Attorney’s Office says the crimes in the indictment indicate the violent nature of the abduction and extreme torture that the victims underwent while being held for over 40 hours. D-A Sandra Doorley says they won’t speculate on a motive right now, but a statement put out Wednesday by U of R President Joel Seligman says it appears to have been a case of mistaken identity.
Seligman says the two students were taken from an off-campus location. He says both students were hospitalized but have since been released. Seligman says he’s working with RPD and campus security to see what further steps can be taken to strengthen campus safety and address drug use on campus. He also says he has authorized the university’s Public Safety department to initiate a new patrol unit which will proactively look at these issues.
