A cryptocurrency investor from Kentucky is suspected of torturing an Italian tourist with a chainsaw in a sadistic, weeks-long extortion attempt at a ritzy Manhattan apartment – before the captive made a daring escape, police sources said.
John Woeltz, 37, was arrested after the bloodied and bruised tourist – a 28 year-old man – broke out of the SoHo house of horrors Friday morning, ran to a police officer and said he’d been held prisoner for more than two weeks, the sources said.
Cops rushed to the luxurious Prince Street pad – which Woeltz was allegedly renting for roughly $30,000 to $40,000 a month – and discovered multiple Polaroid photos showing the tourist being tied up with electrical wire and tortured, including one of him bound to a chair with a gun pointed at his head, according to the sources.
Since being taken captive, the tourist had been bound with an electric cord, Tased while his feet were put in water, pistol whipped, forced to take cocaine and threatened to have his limbs cut off with an electric chainsaw, the sources said.
The nightmare erupted from a dispute over cryptocurrency, in which the suspect allegedly tried to extort millions of dollars from the man by unleashing a litany of horrific tortures, according to sources.
The man was rushed to Bellevue Hospital for treatment, while cops arrested Woeltz, who is expected to face an assault charge, the sources said.
Two other people believed to be employed by Woeltz – who is a crypto entrepreneur and investor – were waiting to be interviewed by police, sources said.
The ordeal began May 6, when the tourist arrived in New York City from Italy and went to meet Woeltz, with whom he apparently had past business dealings, according to sources.
But when the man went to the posh pad, the crypto bigshot snatched his passport and tied him up, sources said.
The man suffered days of torture that were documented by Polaroids – which likely were intended to be used to extort money, either from the victim or his family back in Italy, according to sources.
Police found the photos scattered throughout the blood-soaked makeshift torture chamber, along with several implements of terror – broken glass, night vision goggles, a bulletproof vest and a gun – in plain sight, sources said.
The man had a wound on his arm that is believed to be a cut from the chainsaw, according to the sources.
The victim also had an Apple AirTag put around his neck in case he tried to escape, according to the sources.
He eventually did make his successful attempt to flee because he believed Friday was the day he would be killed, sources said.
Ciaran Tully, a photographer who sells his work across the street from the building, said he saw Woeltz, clad in a robe and handcuffs getting arrested.
“This is definitely the strangest thing I’ve seen in my time here,” he said. “Normally, this is a pretty quiet block.”
A jewelry vendor who wanted to be unnamed said he got a “weird vibe” from the “crypto guys” who recently moved in.
“I knew there was something weird going on, I just assumed they were shooting porn or something,” he said. “I couldn’t have guessed all this.”
Woeltz was being held in the NYPD’s 5th Precinct Friday awaiting charges.
The NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit searched the premises to make sure their were no other torture victims, the sources said.
