An armed man broke into the Colorado ranch of former Democratic presidential candidate Michael R. Bloomberg and kidnapped a housekeeper and asked her about the whereabouts of Bloomberg’s two adult daughters, authorities said in court documents filed this week.
The man, Joseph Beecher, 48, is on trial on state and federal charges, including kidnapping after he was charged Wednesday with ramming his pickup truck through the main gate of the Westlands Ranch in Rio Blanco County. Mr Bloomberg and his family were not present at the ranch at the time, officials said.
But Mr. Beecher told the female housekeeper that he had hoped to “make an international scene” with Mr. Bloomberg, who served as New York City’s mayor from 2002 to 2013, or with his daughters before kidnapping the worker at gunpoint. according to court records.
She was forced to drive Mr. Beecher in a pickup truck about 230 miles east to the Denver area, and later to a town near the southern border of Wyoming, before authorities took them both to a motel there. asked Thursday, officials said. The woman, identified as a supervising housekeeper at the ranch, was found unharmed.
Mr Beecher was arrested, authorities said, and an AR-15-style rifle and several magazines were in the room. He was taken to a prison in Cheyenne, Wyo, where he was held without bail. It was unclear Saturday morning whether he had a lawyer.
The Sheriff’s Office in Rio Blanco County, northwestern Colorado, said in a statement Thursday that Mr. Beecher had no apparent connection to the Bloombergs.
But according to court documents, he had initially asked for the name of the former mayor’s two daughters – Emma, 42, and Georgina, 39. He later told the housekeeper that he had also traveled to a nearby airport in the summer to meet Mr. Bloomberg, the files say.
Ty Trippet, a spokesman for Mr Bloomberg, said in a statement that the former mayor was “deeply grateful” to authorities for “assurance that no lives were lost and that the victim was rescued and returned safely to her family. “
Mr. Beecher was also identified as the suspect in a burglary in Craig, Colorado, a small town about 70 miles from Mr. Bloomberg’s ranch, where officials said he had been given shelter in exchange for repair work. The day before authorities said he had kidnapped the employee, he was told he would be fired from his position and that he would have to move, according to court documents.
Mr. Beecher later argued with his landlord, who eventually discovered that two rifles and ammunition had been stolen from his personal living quarters, according to court documents.
Authorities said they believed Mr. Beecher drove to the 4,600-acre ranch in Rio Blanco County shortly after, which Mr. Bloomberg bought in 2020 for nearly $45 million.
The employee — whose full name was initially released by the Sheriff’s Office, but was later referred to only by her initials in state and federal court documents — told authorities she was working in an upstairs bedroom when Mr. Beecher appeared behind. hair. He had a large gun “pointed at her face,” the federal indictment says, and, in an expletive, threatened to “shoot her face” if she didn’t drive him around.
While driving, Mr. Beecher forced the woman to make several stops, including withdrawing several hundred dollars from an ATM, according to court records. He often made “threatening statements,” including her warning that he would shoot passersby at a gas station if she tried to get help, the documents say.
Mr Beecher also let the woman sleep in the same bed as him, with her head resting on his chest and her arm around his waist. She told authorities she was following them up for fear he would harm her, according to the documents.
The two were found after investigators said they used an app on the woman’s phone — which had been abandoned at the ranch — to track her iPad to the Wyoming motel. Officials said she had been instructed to book their room under false names.
