Man arrested after woman escaped makeshift cell; FBI searching for possible other victims

PORTLAND, Ore. — FBI officials in Portland, Oregon, say a man has been arrested after a woman escaped from his house in Klamath Falls.

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In a news release, the FBI’s Portland Field Office said they are working to try to identify any possible victims of a man who has lived in at least 10 different states.

The FBI identified the man as Negasi Zuberi, 29. He has also gone by the names Sakima, Justin Hyche, and Justin Kouassi.

Zuberi is currently in federal custody for interstate kidnapping after a woman from Washington escaped from his house in Klamath Falls, saying that she was “kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and locked in a cinderblock cell,” the FBI said.

According to KPTV, the FBI said that on Saturday, Zuberi left his house and went to Seattle, Washington where he reportedly posed as an undercover police officer.

Zuberi reportedly kidnapped a woman and drove her back to his house in Oregon, the FBI said, according to The Associated Press. He allegedly locked her in a makeshift cell in his garage, but the woman somehow was able to escape and flagged down a driver for help.

The FBI said the Klamath Falls Police Department got a search warrant for Zuberi’s house and found the cell that the victim described.

“According to the complaint, this woman was kidnapped, chained, sexually assaulted, and locked in a cinderblock cell. Police say, she beat the door with her hands until they were bloody in order to break free. Her quick thinking and will to survive may have saved other women from a similar nightmare,” Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Stephanie Shark with the FBI Portland Field Office, said in the news release. “We are fortunate that this brave woman escaped and alerted authorities. Through quick law enforcement action we were able to get Zuberi in custody the next day. While she may have helped protect future victims, sadly we have now linked Zuberi to additional violent sexual assaults in at least four states and there could be more.”

Zuberi then fled Oregon but was later located in Reno, Nevada, by state police the following day, the AP reported.

The FBI said that Zuberi has lived in at least 10 states since 2016 including California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Alabama, and Nevada. Investigators believe that there may be more victims. They also said that he may have drugged victims’ drinks and was impersonating a police officer to “gain control” over them.

Anyone with information or who believes that they were possibly a victim is asked to visit the website fbi.gov/sakimavictims or call 1-800-CALL-FBI or the FBI Portland Field Office at 503-224-4181.