This story, originally published at 5:17 p.m. April 18, 2025, was updated at 5:58 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. with more information.
A man who allegedly kidnapped a young woman in her 20s was taken into custody without incident after a brief standoff Friday afternoon with Montgomery County police on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda, according to police Chief of Patrol Darren Francke.
Speaking on Friday evening outside of St. Jane De Chantal School at 9525 Old Georgetown Road about 100 feet from where officers arrested the suspect, Francke told Bethesda Today that the county’s emergency communications center received a call regarding the incident at 2:33 p.m.
The caller was the woman’s sister who reported that the woman had been kidnapped, and the suspect had a gun held to her head, Francke said. Officers responded to the location in the 10300 block of Old Georgetown Road and spoke with the sister who called, gathered information about the incident and determined that the report was a “credible” threat, he said. Francke said police determined the suspect and the woman were driving in a Toyota SUV.
According to Francke, the suspect was known to the woman.
“We pulled in multiple units, including undercover units. and also dispatched [mobile] drones in case we couldn’t find the people,” Francke said. A Maryland State Police helicopter was also deployed.
Just before 4 p.m. undercover officers spotted the suspect’s vehicle in the area of Democracy Boulevard, according to Francke.
The officers then followed the vehicle southbound on I-270. As they followed, they saw the woman jump out of the moving SUV as it exited onto Rockledge Drive, Francke said.
“There were undercover officers there to ensure her safety and verify a crime occurred,” Francke said. “The rest of the tactical team went down the road and a short time later stopped the vehicle here on Old Georgetown Road.”
According to Francke, the vehicle stopped not too far from Wyngate Road.
There the officers and the suspect, who had a gun and was barricaded in the SUV, were in a standoff for about 30 minutes, according to Francke. The department’s Emergency Response Team responded to the scene, according to police.
Meanwhile, several streets near Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda were shut down, police posted on social media, saying officers were dealing with a barricaded person in the area of Old Georgetown Road and Beech Avenue.
“He was refusing to come out the vehicle,” Francke said. That’s when a police negotiator made contact with the suspect and spoke with him until he exited the vehicle around 5:05 p.m.
Francke said the suspect was taken into custody without incident and a firearm was recovered from the SUV. No injuries were reported. He noted the woman may have scratches from diving out of the vehicle.
“She’s shaken up but she’s good,” Francke said.
Police began reopening roads in the area around 5:30 p.m., according to radio transmissions.
Francke said police will release more information regarding the suspect and his identity as well as the charges he faces at a later time.
