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MCSO: Kidnapping suspect used booby-trapped door to hold deputies at bay

When a Marion County Sheriff’s deputy forced open the door of an Ocala Park Estates residence with gun drawn Tuesday evening, he said he found a man holding a knife to a woman’s throat.

MARION COUNTY, Fla. — The man, who deputies identified as Jose Rene Marrero, 42, ordered the deputy to leave or he would kill the woman.

Fearing Marrero would follow through with the threat, the deputy stepped back and the door was closed behind him, an arrest report said.

He called backup and then reentered the home almost immediately and found Marrero had taken the woman to a back bedroom and locked the door, the report said.

The deputy said he tried to talk with Marrero, who responded that he would kill the woman if anyone tried to break down the door.

Deputies were called to the scene originally when the victim called 911 at 5:15 p.m. saying Marrero was trying to break into her home, the report said.

During the call, the dispatcher reported hearing a scream as the man was able to gain access to the home.

When the deputy’s backup arrived, they kicked down the door to the bedroom and found Marrero had taken the woman into a locked bathroom.

He told deputies that he’d positioned the knife against the door and if they tried to break it down, it would stab the woman in the stomach, the report said.

At that point, the SWAT team and Negotiations Unit arrived and took over the scene.

After a two-hour negotiation, Marrero surrendered and was arrested.

The woman told investigators that she had been in a relationship with Marrero, who had just been sentenced to probation on a previous domestic violence arrest.

In that case, Marrero was not supposed to have any contact with the kidnapping victim, the report said.

He had been living with her for the past two days because he had nowhere to go, the victim told deputies.

The day of the incident, she told Marrero he needed to leave and offered to drive him to a hotel and pay for him to stay there, the report said.

That is when he pulled out the knife, it said.

Marrero was charged with aggravated domestic battery with the use of a deadly weapon, kidnapping/false imprisonment and resisting an officer without violence.

He was being held without bond at the Marion County Jail.

Cox Media Group

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