A man is facing charges for allegedly breaking into former presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg's ranch in Colorado and kidnapping his housekeeper, according to The Denver Post.
Joseph Beecher, 48, is accused of smashing his pickup truck through the main gate of the Westlands Ranch in Rio Blanco County on Wednesday (February 2), authorities wrote in court documents. Officials claim he forced a female supervising housekeeper at gunpoint to drive him into the Denver area and later to a town near the southern border of Wyoming.
The suspect allegedly told the housekeeper that he wanted to "make an international scene" with Bloomberg or his two adult daughters, Emma and Georgina -- none of whom were at the ranch at the time of the break-in.
Authorities tracked them to a motel early Thursday morning (February 3), where they found the housekeeper unharmed, according to reporters. As for Beecher, he was reportedly arrested and was held at a Cheyenne, Wyoming jail without bail. Law enforcement also found an AR-15 style rifle and several magazines inside the motel room.
Beecher has no apparent connection to the Bloombergs, according to the Rio Blanco County Sheriff's Office on Thursday.
A spokesperson for Bloomberg says the former New York City mayor was "deeply grateful" to authorities for "ensuring that no lives were lost and that the victim has been rescued and safely returned to her family."
You can read more about the situation here.