Man Arrested After Abducting Michael Bloomberg’s Colorado Housekeeper At Gunpoint

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An armed suspect stormed Michael Bloomberg‘s Colorado ranch and kidnapped the former mayor’s housekeeper while stating he wanted to “make an international scene” with the billionaire or his daughters.

Joseph Beecher, 48, allegedly rammed his truck through the $45 million ranch’s gate on Wednesday and abducted Amanda Edinger at gunpoint. He then forced her to drive him through metro Denver and into Wyoming in her vehicle, after trying to hide his damaged truck in an embankment, court documents said.

Cops caught up with Beecher and Edinger Thursday at a Cheyenne motel, where Beecher was allegedly armed with an AR-15 and a handgun.

The Bloombergs were not home at the time of the attack and the housekeeper was not injured.

Edinger told police that Beecher kissed her on the forehead and told her he would kill her if she were a man, according to an arrest affidavit. He also forced her to withdraw money from an ATM and made “many threatening statements,” she claimed.

Beecher told Edinger he had gone to the local airport during the summer to look for the 79-year-old three-term mayor and former Democratic presidential contender, court documents said. He also allegedly asked her about the whereabouts of Emma and Georgina Bloomberg, referring to the women by name.

The suspect lived about 70 miles away from the Bloomberg home and had no connection to the high profile family or his victim, police said. He had worked as a handyman in exchange for housing but was fired from the job and evicted from his home a day before the kidnapping, according to the affidavit.

Beecher was jailed in Wyoming and faced federal kidnapping charges.

“We’re deeply grateful to the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s office, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Wyoming law enforcement, the FBI, and other individuals for their swift and heroic action in this case in ensuring that no lives were lost and that the victim has been rescued and safely returned to her family,” Bloomberg’s spokesperson Ty Trippet said in a statement.