WINTER PARK, Fla, – A woman is safe after a man kidnapped her outside of a Wawa, despite the efforts of an off-duty deputy to stop it, Winter Park police said.
Around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Matthew Seaberg, 44, approached the woman from behind in the parking lot of the Wawa at 901 N. Orlando Ave., lifted her by the waist onto his shoulder, and put her inside his black Ford Super Duty pickup truck, the affidavit states.
According to police, an off-duty Orange County Sheriff’s deputy was fueling his vehicle nearby when he heard the woman screaming, “Stop, please. You are hurting me.” The deputy displayed his badge, identified himself as a deputy, and tried to help the woman get out of the truck.
Before she could escape, Seaberg grabbed her, pulled her back inside, and accelerated out of the parking lot — with the rear passenger door still open and the deputy still in the door threshold. The door closed as the truck sped away southbound on North Orlando Avenue, the affidavit states.
Police tracked down Seaberg shortly after and got the woman to safety. The incident was also captured on Wawa surveillance cameras, police said.
Seaberg faces charges of kidnapping and tampering with a victim, both first-degree felonies, and misdemeanor battery.