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Officers seek a St. Petersburg man they say twice kidnapped a former girlfriend.
By MIKE BRASSFIELD
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 6, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- Orthia Tyrone Porter has tried to kidnap his ex-girlfriend three times and has succeeded twice, police say.
Detectives want to make sure he doesn't get a fourth shot at it.
Each time Porter abducted her, he beat her and held her prisoner for days, detectives said. Most recently, he drove her aimlessly around Orlando in her own car for two days, tying her up at least once and occasionally stopping so they could sleep in the car.
Police had been looking for Porter, 22, and his ex-girlfriend, Nga Tran, 19. They announced Tuesday that Tran had been found, but investigators were still looking for Porter.
"We have taken the girl to an undisclosed location for her safety, because this guy has made three attempts to abduct her," said St. Petersburg police spokesman George Kajtsa. "The girl said she would definitely prosecute."
Porter released Tran Tuesday night after he heard through news reports that police were looking for the two of them, Kajtsa said.
Porter is wanted on charges of false imprisonment, felony battery, auto theft and domestic violence, police said.
Police gave this account of three different kidnapping incidents involving Porter and Tran:
Beginning on Jan. 28, Porter held Tran against her will in his St. Petersburg apartment for two days. Tran escaped through a window Jan. 30, fled from the apartment and called the police. Officers began looking for Porter.
The next day, Thursday, Tran went to school at St. Petersburg College. Porter showed up and tried to forcibly take her off campus, but some college employees intervened.
On Friday, Porter hid near Tran's apartment at 5580 24th Ter. N and grabbed Tran when she arrived home and got out of her car. An elderly woman tried to intervene, but Porter knocked the woman to the ground and dragged Tran into the car at knifepoint, police said.
He took her to Orlando, then brought her back to St. Petersburg on Sunday night and took her to his cousin's apartment in the Pinellas Point area.
Tran's relatives had reported her missing. On Monday night, after the kidnapping case made the news, one of Porter's relatives went to the apartment where Porter and Tran were staying, and announced that Porter's photograph was on television and that police were looking for him.
At that point, Porter told Tran to leave. She went home and called the police again. Porter was still at large Tuesday night.
Anyone with information about Porter's whereabouts is asked to call St. Petersburg police Detective Libby Roeser at (727) 892-5504.