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WILKES-BARRE — A district judge dismissed a kidnapping case that originated in Plymouth Township when the alleged victim failed to appear at the defendant’s preliminary hearing in Luzerne County Central Court on Monday.
Michael Randall Grimm, 43, of Spencerport, N.Y., was charged by state police at Wilkes-Barre after investigating a report he fled with Zuleika Santiago-Schomburg in a rented 2021 Dodge Ram pickup truck in Plymouth Township on Feb. 10, according to court records.
Santiago-Schomburg and her husband, Emmanuel Santana, told investigators they paid Grimm $300 for a ride from Rochester, N.Y. to Reading in Bucks County.
As they stopped in Plymouth Township, a medical emergency caused Santana to exit the truck when Grimm allegedly drove off leaving Santana on the side of the road.
Investigators in court records say Santiago-Schomburg alleged Grimm forced her to withdraw cash from an automated-teller machine.
When Santiago-Schomburg failed to appear to testify, a district judge dismissed charges of kidnapping, robbery, receiving stolen property, theft, access device fraud, simple assault and unlawful restraint against Grimm.