Man kidnaps his ex-girlfriend and goes on a ‘rampage’ after she escapes, feds say

A man kidnapped and sexually assaulted his ex-girlfriend before she seized his car and escaped, sending him on a “rampage” involving arson and a high-speed police chase to get revenge, federal prosecutors said.

Now, he’ll spend decades in prison nearly nine years after the “multistate crime spree” between Pennsylvania and New Jersey in June 2014, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

Luis Figueroa, 42, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 43 years in prison after he was found guilty of kidnapping, criminal sexual abuse, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and assaulting a U.S. federal employee, the attorney’s office announced in and April 17 news release. The prison term will be followed by five years of supervised release.

He previously pleaded guilty to arson and possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, officials said.

“Figueroa deliberately engaged in a premeditated crime spree to extact revenge on the mother of his son…. Fueled with anger, he kidnapped, assaulted and raped her,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said in a statement.

When his ex escaped him in New Jersey, Figueroa went on to attack a federal employee, set a car dealership on fire and slammed his car into multiple police cars during a chase, according to prosecutors.

McClatchy News contacted Figueroa’s attorney for comment on April 18 and didn’t immediately receive a response.

How the ‘crime spree’ unfolded

The case dates to when Figueroa waited with a shotgun outside his ex-girlfriend’s apartment in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, the morning of June 6, 2014, prosecutors said.

When she came out, Figueroa is accused of hitting her in the face with the gun.

“I told you I was going to kill you,” he said before attacking her and her sister, who was eight months pregnant, according to prosecutors.

The child of Figueroa and his ex-girlfriend was there at the time of this assault, prosecutors said. Another family member led the child into a bedroom to protect them from seeing the attack, which resulted in the sister falling down the stairs, according to officials.

Afterward, Figueroa kidnapped his ex and drove to New Jersey with her in the backseat of his SUV, the release said.

At some point, he pulled over at the Kittatinny Point Visitor’s Center near the Delaware Water Gap and sexually assaulted the woman, according to prosecutors.

The ex-girlfriend escapes and the ‘rampage’ ensues, officials say

Figueroa’s ex-girlfriend escaped after she persuaded him to get rid of his shotgun, prosecutors said.

As he was away from the SUV, she got in the driver’s seat and drove off, according to officials.

Upon realizing his ex-girlfriend and his SUV was gone, he attacked a nearby National Park Service employee, prosecutors said,

He approached the employee and then lured them to a storage room at the visitor’s center and “slammed (his) head against a door,” according to officials.

Figueroa threatened the employee into giving him car keys, stole his car and drove away to a used car dealership in Paterson, New Jersey, prosecutors said.

The car dealership was run by someone who Figueroa “had a business relationship” with, officials said.

Ultimately, Figueroa got a hold of a gas canister, doused the car dealership’s office with gasoline and struggled with a worker before setting the place ablaze, according to prosecutors. The car dealership’s office burned down as a result.

Afterward, he got in another car and drove toward the George Washington Bridge heading into New York City while driving “erratically,” prosecutors said.

Police officers noticed and pursued Figueroa, who ended up hitting several officers’ vehicles with the car he was driving, officials said.

Then, he got out of the car and ran away before police officers caught up and arrested him, according to the release.

He was convicted of the charges after a two-week trial in May 2022, according to prosecutors.

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