Cops Foil Man's Plan to Kidnap and Ransom Former Co-Worker

A Columbus, Ohio, man is behind bars facing charges that he tried to have his former co-worker kidnapped with the intent of holding her for ransom.

Police arrested Carlton Rotach, 21, Sunday night after detectives and SWAT officers pulled off a sting operation posing as potential kidnappers that Rotach allegedly tried to hire for the job. According to police, Rotach initially contacted a local firm, Ronin Worldwide Executive Protection, about hiring the business to kidnap a 30-year-old female former co-worker for ransom.

After speaking with Rotach, executives from the firm immediately contacted authorities on Sunday about the shady solicitation.

According to police, detectives and SWAT officers met with Rotach while posing as employees from Ronin. After Rotach laid out his plan for his former co-worker's kidnapping to the disguised authorities, he was later arrested without incident by SWAT officers.

Rotach has been charged with complicity to kidnapping, which is a first-degree felony.

Authorities say during the sting, Rotach gave the disguised officers a detailed description of the intended victim and where she could be found. The accused also allegedly discussed the amount of money he was willing to pay for the kidnapping.

This is not the first time Rotach has been in trouble with the law. Rotach has also spent time in jail in Florida on battery and felony burglary charges.

In May 2010, the intended victim of this latest incident filed a police report claiming a former co-worker was stalking her. She said the suspected stalker entered her secured building on Corporate Exchange Drive in Columbus. She said the suspect, who was not named in the police report, entered her workplace and then her office.

She asked the suspect to leave. However, he said he was there to pick up some paperwork before he then left the building. Police later searched the building and a nearby wooded area, but could not locate the suspect.

According to a local news report by TV10 in Columbus, neighbors of Rotach's came forward on Monday claiming the suspect allegedly approached them about a kidnapping plot.

One neighbor, who asked to not be identified, claimed Rotach asked her if she knew anyone who would hold a person for ransom.

"He asked me if I knew anybody that would go with him and make some money because this girl is worth millions to kidnap," she claimed.

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