Man charged with holding woman hostage for nearly a year while traveling across country

The 57-year-old man faces multiple charges after authorities said he held a woman hostage for almost a year, squandered her money and physically assaulted her while continuing to transport her from state to state.

The woman managed to escape earlier this month to a gas station in New Jersey, where he was eventually arrested and charged.

The New Jersey attorney general and state police superintendent said an unidentified woman met a man named “Brett Parker” at a gas station along the Interstate in New Mexico in February 2022.

At his request, she agreed to give him a lift to Arizona and told the police that she eventually entered into a relationship with him willingly.

About a month later, authorities said he first attacked her while they were in California. The woman told the police that it was then that she began to feel that she could not end the relationship.

“During their life together, (the suspect) allegedly took the woman’s phone, confiscated and used her debit cards, and isolated her from her family,” New Jersey authorities said.

A few months later, in December 2022, they both made it to New Jersey, where they eventually settled into a rented room in Bass River, about 25 miles north of Atlantic City.

The woman told police that during a previous visit she noticed a deadbolt in the door of a nearby gas station and planned to run away when she could.

According to police, on February 7, she escaped during an argument that turned physical, ran to the gas station and locked the door. The man followed her there and tried to get inside, but left when he realized that the door was locked.

Police were called and the man was soon arrested as he walked down 542 County Road.

Authorities have identified him as James W. Parrillo, Jr. and say he may have been known by other names besides the “Brett Parker” name he used with the victim.

Authorities also have reason to believe that Parrillo may have engaged in similar “predatory activities” with other women in other states, and are asking anyone with possible information to call the New Jersey State Police at 855-363-6548.

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Meanwhile, he is being held at the Burling County Jail.

He was charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree strangulation and aggravated assault, and third-degree felony.

This story was reported from Detroit.