Defendant Held Victim Captive for Days;
Beat Her with Tire Iron
Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark today announced that a Bronx man has been
indicted for kidnapping a woman and raping her over the course of five days in an abandoned
building in Kingsbridge.
District Attorney Clark said, “The defendant allegedly held a 28-year-old woman captive
for days, raping and beating her with a tire iron. The victim managed to escape with the help of a
passerby. The defendant has been indicted on multiple charges for terrorizing this woman.”
District Attorney Clark said the defendant, Timothy Harnett, AKA Lawless, 44, who is
homeless, was arraigned today on three counts of first-degree Kidnapping, second-degree
Kidnapping, first-degree Rape, third-degree Rape, four counts of first-degree Criminal Sexual
Act, four counts of third-degree Criminal Sexual Act, first-degree Sexual Abuse, Attempted Sex
Trafficking, Attempted Sexual Assault in the first degree, and second-degree Assault before
Bronx Supreme Court Justice Raymond Bruce. The defendant was remanded and is due back in
court on August 9, 2022.
According to the investigation, on April 29, 2022, the defendant allegedly offered the
victim, a 28-year-old woman, money in exchange for sex. He took her to 2667 Briggs Avenue
where an abandoned three-story building damaged by a fire was located and took her upstairs.
When the victim turned her back to the defendant he allegedly hit her leg with a tire iron, causing
her to fall to the floor. Harnett allegedly continued to beat her with the tire iron and punched her,
leaving her with a fractured wrist and dislocated knee. The defendant allegedly took off the
victims’ clothes, tied her feet with a cloth and handcuffed her wrists.
Between April 29, 2022 and May 2, 2022, Harnett allegedly held the victim captive and
raped her multiple times a day. He also threatened to kill her if she tried to escape. On May 2,
2022, the defendant left the building to go to a nearby laundromat. While he was gone, the victim
used the tire iron to break a window and used glass to cut the restraints on her feet. The victim waved down a passerby who called 911 and flagged down a NYPD patrol car. The victim was
taken to the hospital for her injuries.
It is believed the defendant may have had other victims. Anyone who may have been
victimized, or anyone with information about a victim of this defendant should please call the
Bronx District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Unit at 718-838-6535.
If you are a victim of human trafficking, please call the National Human Trafficking
Hotline at 888-373-7888, or the Bronx DA’s Crime Victims Assistance Unit, (718) 590-2115.
District Attorney Clark also thanked Detective Jordan Gambino of the NYPD Bronx Special
Victims Squad, Detective James Barrenger of the NYPD DNA Cold Case Squad, and Detective
Michael Summa of the NYPD Bronx Warrants Squad for their work in the investigation.
An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.
