By admin 
VANCOUVER, Wash. (KPTV/Gray News) – A man was arrested after he allegedly beat and strangled a woman inside his apartment while holding her captive for multiple days.
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Nathanial Sylvester, 31, appeared before a judge on Aug. 29, facing several charges, including assault and unlawful imprisonment.
The sheriff’s office said the victim eventually escaped by jumping from a second-story window and found refuge at a Goodwill store about a quarter mile away.
The incident stunned neighbors in the area.
“I heard about it, and I was like, ‘Where did that happen?’ I didn’t honestly know it happened here,” said neighbor James Smith.
One neighbor, who did not want to appear on camera, told FOX 12 that Sylvester was offering neighbors sex with the woman.
“Oh, I was kinda shocked that somebody can, you know. But it didn’t surprise me with the way things go on nowadays,” said Smith.
When deputies found the victim at the Goodwill store, they said she was hysterically crying with visible bruises on her arms and neck.
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The woman told first responders she and Sylvester had originally met up to have sex and hang out.
Court documents said she admitted that they did drugs during their time together. But she said that things turned violent and Sylvester strangled her several times with a belt and an electrical cord.
The victim said that, before she escaped, Sylvester gave her 30 minutes to write goodbye letters to her family because he said he was planning to kill her.
The victim told deputies that Sylvester also chased her with a knife and burned her with a lighter torch.
When deputies found Sylvester, they said he denied assaulting the woman or keeping her against her will. He is expected to be back in court regarding this case on Sept. 1.
Sylvester was previously behind bars for other crimes and was released from prison in 2024.
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