Affidavit: Scotts Bluff County man kidnapped two women, three children

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A Scotts Bluff County man was arrested Friday in the kidnapping of two women and three children from a Motel 6 in the Panhandle.

Carl Thomas, 71, faces 16 charges, including five counts of kidnapping, five counts of false imprisonment and second-degree assault.

Just after 6:30 p.m. Friday, a deputy with the Garden County Sheriff’s Office was notified of several recent 911 calls.

According to the affidavit, the dispatch operator could hear several people who did not speak English.

The deputy started driving east on Highway 26 near Lewellen toward their last known location when she saw someone waving their arm out the window of a sedan parked on the shoulder.

Authorities said the deputy continued driving east before learning that the car she was looking for may have been the one she just passed.

The deputy turned around and found the vehicle on an overpass just west of Oshkosh.

When the deputy approached the car, she saw a woman exit the vehicle with two children.

According to the affidavit, the three were “very terrified and distraught,” with one of the kids crying.

The deputy told the woman and kids to go stand by the cruiser.

Also inside the vehicle was another woman and child. All five victims were put in the cruiser of Sheriff Randy Ross, who was also on scene.

The driver, Thomas, said he was helping the women by taking them to Walmart to get car seats.

According to the affidavit, Thomas told the deputy that “These b—— are out of control. I’m going to f—— deport them.”

Ross took the women and children were taken to the Garden County Sheriff’s Office to be interviewed.

One of the women said they were on their way from Denver to move in with other relatives.

While they were driving through Deuel County, they were pulled over by a deputy. The deputy said they didn’t have proper child restraints in the car and told them to stay at the Motel 6 in Big Springs while they figured out how to get car seats.

While staying at the Motel 6, the woman said they went to a nearby gas station to ask people for money.

That’s where Thomas approached the woman’s husband and offered him a job at his house. But the husband said he wasn’t feeling well and turned down the job.

According to the affidavit, Thomas then went up to one of the women and told them he would take them to Walmart and buy them car seats.

The two women agreed to go with Thomas and brought all three children with them. The husband did not go, the affidavit says.

The Walmart was only about 22 minutes away.

So after 30 minutes had passed, one of the children asked Thomas if they were still going to Walmart, but Thomas ignored him.

Thomas started showing everybody pictures of female genitalia, telling them he was going to take them to his house so they could “clean and massage him.”

During this time, Thomas was chain smoking, making one of the women light his cigarettes for him while driving at 90 mph.

According to the affidavit, Thomas was constantly yelling at them.

At one point, one of the women tried to open the door but did not jump due to the high speeds.

Shortly after that, the deputy found them and pulled the car over.

During the interview, one of the women said she was terrified, believing that it was her last day and that she was going to be “cut to pieces,” according to the affidavit.

Just before 7:30 p.m., Thomas was placed under arrest and taken to the Cheyenne County Jail.

His bond is set at $5 million, and he is due back in court on March 14.