ROSS COUNTY, Ohio —– The trial for a Columbus man accused of kidnapping a woman and then leading law enforcement in Ross County on a high-speed chase is slated to begin next week.
According to the Ross County Sheriff’s Office, the events surrounding the case started on the morning of August 4, 2022, when 45-year-old Anthony Jernee, a truck driver and mechanic from Columbus, along with 48-year-old Terri Diaz of Lucasville stopped and asked the victim if she wanted to go to Lucasville with them and pick up a camper.
The victim, reports said at the time, willingly left with the duo. The woman told detectives that she knew Jernee and had previously spent time with him.
The woman went on to tell authorities that Jernee and Diaz made plans for the three of them to camp at Paint Creek State Park. In a statement, the victim stated that Jernee wanted her to perform oral sex on him, and when she declined, he placed handcuffs on her.
Diaz and Jernee allegedly took the victim into the camper and zip-tied her to a couch inside. According to statements, Jernee said that “had she performed oral sex on him, this would never have happened, and that now she will be like the rest.” The victim said that Diaz held her at knifepoint.
The woman told detectives that she could get one hand free from the zip ties and found a box cutter. She then cut the zip ties and jumped from the moving camper in the area of Nipgen, a small community in Ross County. A homeowner in the area called 9-1-1 after he said he found the woman on his lawn with shackles around her ankles and ties on her wrists in distress, saying she had been abducted and just escaped. When deputies arrived they found the woman hysterical she told them she had been tied up and held against her will.
Deputies worked with troopers and Chillicothe Police Department to track down a truck the woman described, which was pulling the camper. Law enforcement located Jernee pulling the camper headed toward Chillicothe. Deputies tried pulling him over, but he gave a slow pursuit; sometimes trying to ram law enforcement, police said. The chase ended in an alley behind Paint Street near Fourth Street in Chillicothe where the pickup and camper jackknifed. That’s when law enforcement took Jernee into custody while the woman victim was taken to the hospital. Also arrested was Diaz.
The Guardian spoke with investigators to inquire about the follow-up into the victim’s statement that Jernee told her, “she will be like the rest,” and what that statement might have meant. The Guardian asked police if the man was being considered a suspect in other sexual assaults, abductions, or even murders. Officials said the case remains under investigation.
According to court records, Anthony Jernee was indicted for rape and kidnapping in 2018. The Franklin County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the indictment after the victim could not be located.
Jernee is currently serving a 5 to 7 ½ year prison sentence for felony drug possession.