Police arrested Ruben Carrion Melendez, 27, following an alleged kidnapping incident the morning of Oct. 12.

Around 7:19 a.m., Bethlehem police received multiple 911 calls reporting a male grabbing a female and pulling her into a vehicle at 3419 Commerce Center Boulevard. Police spoke with witnesses, and through investigation found that Melendez drove the victim, a 25-year-old woman, off the road in his 2012 two-door black Honda Civic.

He then entered the victim’s Nissan, forced her over to the passenger seat, and intentionally crashed her vehicle into a pole. Melendez then dragged her by the hair into his vehicle and sped away. Melendez also has an active PFA order for recently stalking this victim.

At 9:15 a.m., police were contacted by the Port Authority Police, who located both the defendant and the victim near the Holland Tunnel in New York. The victim was transported to the hospital for evaluation of her injuries.

“Thanks to the excellent work by the Bethlehem Police Department and the Port Authority Police, we were able to quickly find the defendant and get the victim to safety,” District Attorney Terry Houck said. “I also want to thank the members of the media for getting this information out to the pubic so a swift apprehension could be made. We are now working to bring the defendant back to Pennsylvania to face these serious charges.”

Melendez is charged with kidnapping, unlawful restraint, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person and simple assault.