MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A supervisor from a cleaning company is being accused of kidnapping and assaulting an employee last month.
The employee said her supervisor, Elias Humberto Lazo Escobar, told her to get in his truck when she arrived for work. She said Escobar told the other workers that he was taking her to another business to work.
Once Escobar drove away, officers said he attempted to hug the employee and told her to come closer. After she refused, Escobar reportedly told the employee that he was taking her to his house to give her a massage. The employee told officers she began to cry and beg Escobar to return her to work.
Police said Escobar, 32, then arrived at his home and told the employee to get out of the truck. The employee went into the home and sat by the closest chair to the door, according to court documents.
She then told officers that Escobar began to rub her neck, back, and reached under her shirt to massage her shoulders. The employee said she repeatedly kept begging Escobar to take her back to work, but Escobar went to sit in the living room.
When the employee went to the door to leave the house, she said Escobar warned her that she was in a dangerous neighborhood. She then left the house and called a friend.
Court documents state that the employee did not know where she was, so she walked to a Kroger store at Shelby Drive and Riverdale Road. She told officers her friend picked her up at a nearby McDonald’s, and they both returned to her job.
The employee also told officers that she never gave Escobar consent to touch her. Escobar was then developed as a suspect.
He is expected to appear in court on June 21.