A New Haven man is under arrest after police say he held his ex-girlfriend hostage for over 12 hours in her own apartment.
On Sunday, March 20, New Haven officer Martin Feliciano was approached by a man that claimed his daughter was being held hostage in her State St. apartment.
When officers arrived at the apartment, they spoke with the 26-year-old female victim. She told them that her ex-boyfriend, William "BJ" Brown, held her hostage from 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 19th til noon on Sunday.
The victim told police that when she arrived home on Saturday, the dead bolt to her apartment door was locked, even though she does not have a key to it and does not use that lock.
The victim then climbed through a window to enter her apartment. She located Brown inside her son's bedroom. Brown appeared to be intoxicated and agitated.
Brown pinned the victim down on the kitchen floor while holding a knife.
The victim said that she was on the floor for about four hours before Brown allowed her to sit on the couch.
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While on the couch, the victim received a phone call from her child's father. This aggravated Brown and he struck the victim in the face several times with a closed fist. The victim was able to defend herself and kick Brown in the stomach, stopping the assault.
The victim was able to get her phone back and text her child's father the word "help."
According to the victim, Brown began to apologize for what he had done around 7 a.m. At about 11:50 a.m. , someone knocked on the door of the apartment.
Brown was scared by the door knock and ran to a bedroom to hide. The victim believed it was her child's father and was able to run outside.
When police searched the victim's apartment, they discovered Brown had trashed it. The victim said that during the incident, Brown had walked around the home, randomly breaking things.
Brown was apprehended after he called 9-1-1 to try to report that he was being harassed by the victim. He was taken into custody at 685 Winchester Ave. Sunday night.
Brown was charged with home invasion, unlawful restraint, reckless endangerment, threatening in the second degree, assault in the third degree and criminal mischief in the second degree.
Brown has previously been arrested 28 times.