A Maplewood man is charged with kidnapping for ransom after a man who had come to sell an electric bike said he was held at gunpoint in a Saint Paul garage, tied up with zip ties and told to pay $600, according to a criminal complaint.
Davis Her, 41, faces two felony charges: kidnapping for ransom and possessing ammunition while prohibited because of a conviction for a crime of violence. The complaint was filed Oct. 12 in Ramsey County District Court, and bail was set at $150,000.
According to the complaint, Saint Paul police were called at about 4:55 p.m. on Oct. 9 to the 1300 block of Reaney Avenue, where a frightened man had shown up at a home and begged the people there to call police.
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The man told officers he had met a group of men to sell an electric bike and was directed to a nearby garage. There, one of the men pulled out a handgun, pointed it at him and told him he would be his next victim, the complaint says. The group tied him up with zip ties, demanded $600 and held him in the garage for hours.
He said he eventually persuaded them to let him go outside to urinate, broke free of the zip ties and ran, according to the complaint.
He told officers a silver BMW was involved. Officers stopped that car nearby and identified the driver as Her, who said the car was registered to a relative but that he was the only one who drove it. The man identified Her as one of the men involved and said Her had helped put the zip ties on him, the complaint says.
In the BMW, officers found zip ties, the man’s wallet, phone and car keys in the glove box, and a box of 9mm ammunition. Broken zip ties were found outside the garage.
In an interview, Her said he had been hanging out in the garage with friends, including the man, and that the man smoked something and started “tweaking,” according to the complaint. Her said they took the man’s car keys so he would not drive, and that he then ran from them.
The complaint says Her is barred from having ammunition because of a conviction for domestic assault by strangulation, and that he has a 2021 federal conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The kidnapping count carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, a $50,000 fine or both.
