Suspected Carnapper Busted at Ransom Drop: Cops

When his recent crack lease -- the lending of a car in exchange for crack cocaine -- went sour, Nathaniel Van Vliet, of Weston, did what any sensible business man would do: he went to the cops.
 
Van Vliet, 33, told police he had recently agreed to lend his car for two hours to Keenan Sneed, 19,  and another man in exchange for seven bags of crack -- an arrangement also know as a "rock rental." But when it came time to return the 2001 Volvo station wagon, instead of his car, Van Vliet got a call telling him his car was being held for ransom.
 
Van Vliet says Sneed, of Bridgeport, demanded $400 for the car or he was going to take it to a chop shop. After some haggling, the ransom was lowered to $250 and a meeting was set up, according to the Connecticut Post.

When Sneed pulled up to the drop spot, he was unaware of the Strategic Enforcement Team that had secured the perimeter and was watching the whole thing unfold. Cops quickly moved in and a brief struggle with Sneed was ended with a stun gun, according to the Post. He's been charged with first-degree larceny by extortion and interfering with police and was being held on $5,000 bond.
 
Sneed's aunt, Wilma Edmonds, was taken into custody as well, for breach of peace and interfering with police, after cops say she tried to stop them from taking her nephew downtown.
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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