A Tooele man is in jail after a 22-year-old woman reported she was kidnapped, held for several days, drugged and raped.
She says she escaped by causing the man to crash his car and fleeing from the damaged vehicle.
According to Tooele City Police, the victim reported Dec. 6 that, sometime around Thanksgiving, an unidentified man covered her head with a pillowcase, tied her hands together, took her to a detached garage and delivered her to a second man, identified as Casey Nielsen, 36. The woman said that Nielsen had a gun, and that he prevented her from leaving a room in the garage. Nielsen “gave her several injections of an unknown substance,” according to a probable cause statement.
Nielsen then reportedly covered the woman’s head with a pillowcase again, put her in a car and drove off. She “pulled on the steering wheel,” causing the car to crash, “and she was able to run.”
Twelve days later, on Dec. 18, a search warrant was served at the home where the victim said she was held. The homeowner “confirmed the victim had been staying inside the room inside the garage with Mr. Nielsen,” adding that she “saw the victim not wearing her pants and she appeared to be disoriented.”
Seventeen days later, on Jan. 4, the second man was interviewed, and he “denied putting a pillow case over her head or tying her hands.”
Three days after that, Nielsen was interviewed and denied the allegations. Police searched his and found drug paraphernalia. Nielsen admitted to using methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana.
Nielsen was booked into the Tooele County Jail for investigation of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and rape, first degree felonies, and use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.
In 2016, Nielsen was arrested and charged with holding another woman captive in the same home — which belongs to one of his friends — for about two weeks before she was able to escape. He eventually pleaded guilty to drug possession and weapons felonies, and the charge of aggravated kidnapping was dismissed.
He was also arrested on a separate rape charge that year, but that case was dismissed.
