NJ cousins accused of kidnapping and torturing victim into wiring cash

🚨 Two Atlantic County cousins charged in kidnapping and assault

⌚ Victim used Apple Watch SOS to alert police during abduction

💰 Suspects allegedly forced $25K transfer before being arrested

A pair of cousins from Atlantic County have been accused of brutally attacking a Morris County man and kidnapping him, forcing him to transfer $25,000 to one of the defendants.

Siquaya Smith, 37, and Louis Cadet, 40, both of Northfield, were arrested Thursday after police stopped their SUV in Union County.

The duo are facing multiple charges, including first-degree kidnapping and second-degree robbery.

Apple Watch SOS alert helps police track suspects

Dover Township police received an SOS emergency notification on Thursday morning.

The victim said he managed to send the alert from his Apple iWatch, after being confronted while leaving his home to go to work and being forced into a 2022 Toyota Highlander registered to Smith.

He said his phone, wallet and keys were taken from him as he was struck in the head and forced to the floor of the backseat, according to an affidavit filed by investigators.

Cadet then ripped the device from the victim’s wrist and tossed it from the SUV window, officials said.

Police found the damaged iWatch about a mile from the victim’s home as they were following up on the call for help.

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Weapons, injuries reveal the brutality of the attack

An earlier harassment report filed in Dover helped investigators zero in on Smith’s Highlander.

They received help from Verizon, tracing the victim’s phone to a location in Linden and then Elizabeth, where the Toyota was pulled over.

In the back of the SUV, the victim was found hurt and bleeding. He needed three staples to help close a gash to his head and had suffered several broken ribs, bruising and cuts, according to the affidavit.

Police also recovered a drill and metal kitchen tongs from the vehicle, which they accused the duo of using as weapons on the victim.

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NJ duo accused of violent kidnapping, $25K extortion

The victim told police that the duo ordered him to call his financial advisor and have $25,000 transferred to Amorycare, according to the affidavit.

Smith was listed online as an authorized agent for the company, which provides elderly care services.

When pulled over, Smith said she knew she was going to be in a lot of trouble and asked to call her mother, the affidavit said.

She later told detectives that she and Cadet, her cousin, had driven up to Morris County to look for the victim a day earlier, believing he owed them about $18,000.

Cadet told police that the victim had gotten into the SUV willingly, the affidavit added.

Multi-agency response leads to quick arrest

As of Friday, Smith and Cadet were each facing seven charges:

▪️first-degree kidnapping
▪️second-degree robbery
▪️second-degree conspiracy to commit kidnapping
▪️third-degree aggravated assault
▪️third-degree possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose
▪️fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon (two counts)

“Thanks to rapid response by law enforcement aided by new technology in Morris and Union counties, we were able to locate the victim and bring an end to this dangerous situation in a matter of hours,” Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said.

Specifically, Carroll thanked police in Dover, Elizabeth, Parsippany-Troy Hills, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office, and his own office’s Special Operations Division and MCPO Major Crimes and Missing Persons units.

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