Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023 | 2 a.m.
Negasi Zuberi, an Oregon man who was arrested in Nevada and is accused of kidnapping a woman in Seattle and locking her in a cinder block cell until she broke the door to escape, unsuccessfully tried to escape his jail cell on Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, sheriff's officials said in a statement on Friday, Aug. 25.
The Klamath Falls man accused of kidnapping a Seattle woman and locking her in a makeshift cell in the garage of his home attempted to escape from his own cell at the Jackson County jail this week, according to court records.
About 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday, a Jackson County maintenance worker outside the county jail noticed an unusual noise coming from one of the cells and alerted sheriff’s deputies.
Deputies found Negasi Zuberi on his bunk bed, near a window that appeared to be chipped, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Zuberi is accused of using an improvised, screw-like device to strike and shatter glass in the cell, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court on Thursday.
He then covered the shattered glass with books and paper in an apparent attempt to hide it, the affidavit said.
The device was found attached to his sandal, Officer Brian Kolkemo wrote in the affidavit.
Zuberi, 29, was charged in Jackson County with new allegations of attempted second-degree escape and first-degree criminal mischief.
The cost to replace the glass is expected to be more than $2,000.
Sheriff’s deputies seized the improvised tool from Zuberi and had him go through a full-body scanner before they moved him to a different cell with no exterior windows, according to the sheriff’s office.
Zuberi was returned last week to Oregon from Nevada, where he was arrested last month on federal charges.
He’s entered not guilty pleas to a two-count federal indictment charging him with interstate kidnapping and transporting a woman with intent to engage in sexual activity.
He remains in custody on a federal hold.
Zuberi was arrested in Reno on July 16, a day after the alleged kidnapping. The kidnapped woman was locked in a cell in the garage of Zuberi’s rental home in Klamath Falls for a couple of hours before she fought her way out, ran down the street and flagged down a motorist for help, according to the FBI and Klamath Falls police.
