Transcription
Why the [ __ ] do you have flex cuffs on Epstein Island? >> You know why.
And mom tells her to duct tape me and put me in the dungeon. She was Jeffrey Epstein's property manager. >> She's just running around out there, not detained. What the >> Nothing.
She blindfolds me. I start getting a little scared because when the blindfold went on I was like, "I'm about to get executed." And this dude charges into the dungeon and just runs up to me and and smacks me on the side of my head closed fist. Police came back and found the dude hog-tied butt naked in the boat.
I'm trying to figure out like, well, how am I going to get back to St. John? I don't have a phone. I've got nothing. I have absolutely nothing on me. I'm I've got boots and my We Fight Monsters bathing suit. I didn't have a shirt. And it was hot. Like I was I was roasting.
Um Emery gets a phone call about this time. Um I've probably been Who? Emery? The black female that was driving the ATV. Uh so I've probably been tied up for about an hour. Maybe 30 minutes at this point. I don't know. Time is elusive. Uh I was definitely you know, heat exhaustion was setting in. Uh I was dehydrated as hell. I'd inhaled a bunch of seawater on the way up. And then obviously that huge physical exertion trying to get up there and then get away.
Um She gets a phone call and she answers on speaker and calls the woman on the other end mom. And I'm like, "That is very strange. What is going on?" Um And mom tells her to duct tape me and put me in the dungeon. And I'm thinking in my head that what what an awful choice of words for somebody who works for a billionaire trying to rebrand this island from what it used to be. Why would you call it the dungeon? It is a strange thing to say.
Um And >> Why is strange? Her mom? >> Right. Her mom. Um And I'm thinking in my head like this lady's just trying to scare me. Uh and you know, they're they're taking pictures of me the whole time and I was not about to let them know I was freaked out. So, I would smile at them like you know, I'm trying to irritate them a little bit, but also let them know like I'm I'm good. You might remember from last time we talked that this was not the first time I've been kidnapped.
Um And so I'm trying to stay as calm as possible. I can't I actually was pretty damn calm at this point. You know, uh no big deal. Uh I'm getting a misdemeanor citation. I just got to sit through this [ __ ] while these people harass me until the police get there. So, uh >> Can you see your your buddies? >> No, they were long gone. They were long They had to be. >> Okay. >> Uh because of their backgrounds and the lines of work they're in today, a trespassing charge is going to harm their livelihood. I I would suspect. You know my background. You think I care about another misdemeanor? I really No.
Um thank god I'm not a felon and and I knew I wasn't facing any felony here, but a misdemeanor, who cares, man? That's what I'm thinking at the time. I didn't realize in that moment that the Virgin Islands can actually give you 30 days in prison for misdemeanor trespassing. I thought it was a citation. I was wrong. Uh so, hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have researched that a little bit more.
Um So, they She gets off the phone with mom and uh the Haitians and the Hispanic dude go to look for duct tape, which they can't find, but they did find flex cuffs. It's like the third red flag. Why the [ __ ] do you have flex cuffs on Epstein Island? So, they put me, you know, the zip tie me. I've got flex cuffs, half-inch zip ties, and rope at this point.
Um And they [clears throat] tell me to go to the ATV. Well, this dock's like, I don't know, 50 yards long. And I'm hobbled. And they make me start hopping down this dock to the very last ATV in line to transport me somewhere else. You remember monkey [ __ ] that you used to have doing PT? >> No. >> So >> Maybe. >> Let me demonstrate. >> The the monkey [ __ ] Do you get How do you do it? It goes like this? >> And that's basically what I'm doing for 50 yards down this dock. I've got like, I don't know, a foot between me and this row of ATVs of dock to hop on and the ocean on the other side of me. And I'm positive I'm going to fall in. And she start Emery starts joking, you know, maybe they should just kick me in since I'm so thirsty. And I'm like, these [ __ ] about to try to make me drown. So, I'm still hardly able to breathe. Like terribly dehydrated. Like all I can think about is wanting water. And I'm having to do monkey [ __ ] down this whole ass dock to get to their ATVs so they can take me to wherever they're going to take me, to the dungeon is what they called it. And again, I'm still thinking they're just trying to scare me.
Well, we get to the dungeon and uh I quickly realize like they weren't trying to scare me. They legit have a dungeon. Um I think we gave Laura a sky view, a satellite view for Google Earth of this thing. It's like this door in the middle of a hillside. The roof is grass, you know. And inside it's like this 10 by 20 dungeon. Like there's nothing It's just a cement room. The optics I'm I'm thinking at this point in time Right. Yeah. But see, I had no idea at this point who these people were. So, none of this is clicking in my head really. Like I know I'm on Epstein Island. I know the history. But I wasn't nearly as freaked out as I should have been, right?
Um They they throw me in this room. It's like 120° in there. Uh and they come add duct tape now to my ankles, my knees. Mom calls again and they keep answering this [ __ ] on speakerphone. Um just I'm I'm positive they're trying to like psych out me and terrify me even more. And she tells them to make sure I'm in the corner of that room so that the breeze from the doorway cannot reach me. And I'm dreading that happening because the breeze felt like the only thing that was keeping me conscious. She tells them to continue denying me water.
Um I hear her say over the phone, "If it was up to me, I would just shoot every one of these motherfuckers." The Haitians keep referring to the woman on the other end of the phone as the owner, the owner, the owner. Emery leaves. I'm trying to talk to the Haitians, like, "Please give me some water. Please give me some water." Um and they're like, "Look, if you think this one's bad, just wait till the owner gets here." So, repeated reference is made to the owner. So, I'm I'm still thinking like the owner is Steven Deckoff and maybe they're talking about his wife or something.
Um I don't know how many hours have passed at this point, but it was a bunch. Um Finally, the owner shows up, uh who I later figured out was Mom, who was [clears throat] on the phone with Emery every time. She comes like Emery had come back and given me water. Like I had been trying to work, you know, my magic on human connection with her and the Haitians this whole time, and I think it finally started paying off a little bit because she did come back with ice cold water.
Um And you know, she poured it in my mouth for me. And it was like a different persona than the Emery that had had me down there, you know, near near the beach. Like like you could tell she was angry as [ __ ] in the beginning.
Um So, Mom gets there. Now I know who Mom is today. I did not at that moment. Her name is Anne Rodriguez. And she is Emery Pellion's mother. Um she gets there furious. Just and I don't understand why she's so mad. Uh like all I've I was just going to take a picture and leave the island. >> Mhm. >> We weren't even trying to interact with people. They were hundreds of yards away uh until they saw us and came to us. Like I And I know I was trespassing. I'm I'm aware of that. But the level of vitriol coming from this woman towards me made zero sense to me at the time.
Um >> Is she the legit owner? >> I don't know. I don't know. We'll get there. Uh well, no. Let's get there now. I'll tell you who she is. Uh she was Jeffrey Epstein's property manager. In other words, >> How do you know that? >> The files. The Epstein files. >> Oh, [ __ ] >> If you search her name in there, it returns 23,000 results. And >> 23,000? >> 23,000 results. Um you know, a lot of emails with her calling Jeffrey boss man. Emails of her handling flights and lodging for females. Um Like she was managing logistics and um maintenance, security.
Uh To say that the >> The whole [ __ ] thing is she's just running around out there. >> Right. To say it [snorts] a different way, >> Not detained. What? Nothing. [ __ ] >> And and and apparently kidnapping people.
Uh so, the Haitians she blindfolds me. And at this point I do get I start getting a little scared. You know, I may have watched an ISIS beheading video or two too many. Because when the blindfold went on, I was like, "Fuck, I'm about to get executed." You know, um And more time passes. At this point panic sets in cuz I have like I'm convinced they're going to kill me. I still don't know what I just told you. I don't know that she's Epstein's property manager. I don't know that Emmeripellion I I don't know any of that at this point. I just know I'm tied up in a room that this lady calls the dungeon. Side note, the woman that ran the island for Jeffrey Epstein called that the dungeon. That That's scary. That's scary.
So, I don't know how much time has passed. Several hours I've been in this dungeon. Um I hear the door open. >> [snorts] >> Uh I hear a camera start clicking. And now I'm convinced here comes the beheading, you know, they're going to record it in 4K. Uh and hand goes in the back of my head and rips my blindfold off. I'm like, "Yep, here it comes. They're going to take my blindfold off and just cut off my head, you know." And instead of that happening, uh I'm looking at a Virgin Islands Police Department detective with an evidence camera. Uh and I just got the biggest shit-eating grin on my face. I was like, "I am so glad to see you." Uh like knowing I'm probably about to get arrested, but god I was glad cuz whatever has been happening is finally over. So, I thought.
Uh I hear a lot of commotion outside the dungeon. Uh the cop with the evidence camera has stepped out asking somebody can they come cut me loose. Uh and this dude charges into the dungeon. Uh young black male and just runs up to me and and smacks me on the side of my head closed fist. I've lost. The police are here. This dude's hitting. Like, "What is going on?" So, I got all these thoughts going through my head like, "Oh my god, are the cops in on it? Like, what is actually going on right now?"
Um [clears throat] instead the cops grabbed him, dragged him out, all right? Uh I hear Emmerie screaming outside it wasn't him, it wasn't him. I thought she's talking about the dude that just hit me. She's actually talking about me because what I forgot was that I heard her screaming over the radio earlier uh that somebody had pushed her down on the beach. Now, I didn't see that because I was detained by the Haitians uh and and we've actually got the receipts. I don't I don't think anybody pushed her down.
Um but Paul, who was apparently her boyfriend, thought I was the one who pushed her. She's pregnant. I'd have hit me, too. Like I'd have I'd have hit me in front of the cops, even, you know? So, when they finally cut me loose, I go out there, I see Paul in handcuffs in the back of one of these ATVs and I straight up tell the cops like if that kid's in handcuffs right now because of what just happened to me, please take him out. Like I don't want to press charges. I'm good, you know? I'm fine. Everything's cool.
Uh if he thought I pushed his pregnant girlfriend down while trespassing on her island, I'd have Whatever. I'd have I'd have beat the hell out of me, you know? So, I'm trying to get him out of trouble. Uh and that's when it dawned on me that the cops are a lot more concerned about this than I was. They told me, "We're not taking anybody in handcuffs until we figure out who hog-tied you." And then the gravity of what is going on starts setting in. There's 15 or 20 cops out here.
Um and they're much more interested in why I'm hog-tied than they are in the fact I was trespassing. Um I hear the Haitians and Anne Rodriguez talking and reference was made to, you know, this is the seventh time this has happened. Uh and I'm like, "What the [ __ ] This is the seventh time something like What What What's actually going on here?"
So, uh the cops takes down their fast boats. They've got two of them there. Um I'm still not [clears throat] in handcuffs. Paul still is and they take us all back to Saint Thomas.
Um They let us get out of the boats. Uh and one of the detectives that had been asking me all these questions. I didn't want to give a statement. I I just I it to be over with, you know? And I didn't think I was getting arrested. Uh I was just going to let bygones be bygones. Like, you know, whatever. You hog-tied me, you kidnapped me. But I trespassed, we'll call it even. That kind of thing.
Um I I don't stress too much about things. Well, one of the detectives comes over and tells me that that Anne is insisting on doing a citizen's arrest. I'm like, "What does What does that mean?" Uh like technically, for a citizen's arrest, she needed to tell me she's placing me under citizen's arrest back on the island. Like, this is like way too late at this point. But the cops are kind of their hands They feel like their hands are tied.
Um they're going to have to go ahead and charge me. So, they take me back to the station. >> [gasps] >> And you know, I'm I'm expecting that because the citizen's arrest wasn't done the correct and and legal way that they'll probably end up just cutting me loose. When [snorts] we got back to uh the GBI, the GIB, General Investigations Bureau on St. Thomas, and I realize like they're not letting go. I am going to have to go to jail. I was like, "Well, in that case, I will go give a statement. I'll tell you everything."
Um you know, so they you know, they got a recorded video statement from me. And it's all on basically everything I just told you. Um only probably better cuz it was much fresher on my mind, right?
Um And after that, they're like, "Well, do you have anybody you can call who can come post your bond?" I was like, "Yeah, I was actually, you know, I was prepared for this." Uh so >> [laughter] >> I had bond money in the boat.
Um I'm going to call Ryan. And so I I called Ryan. Um And he comes down there. And when he gets there, he I had completely forgotten about this. They want him to give a statement. And uh he drops the bomb on them. "Oh, by the way, I'm a lawyer." And so I was like, "Oh, yeah, he's a lawyer." So, the cops go ahead and let him know because they're assuming he's my lawyer. He's not.
Um I don't I don't even think he's licensed to practice. He's just been to law school and passed the bar, whatever. They tell him that they're going to charge the people on the island, uh with kidnapping, uh I can't remember if it was false imprisonment or unlawful detention, something along those lines, and assault for what happened to me. Now, those charges haven't dropped yet. I'm assuming they have to go to a grand jury for that to happen.
Um they they've Oh, Paul, the kid that hit me, walks past, you know, and apologizes to me, and I'm still trying to get him out of trouble. Like, I I I don't feel like he should have been Mhm. mixed If I'm being honest, the way he acted, the way the Haitians acted, like, I think they're all scared of him, too. I really do.
Um They booked me into jail. Cops cool as crap all time. I love Virgin Islands Police Department. Like, the I didn't have a shirt on. The SVU sergeant gave me her her Punisher t-shirt. Like, everybody was being cool as crap.
Um They booked me into jail with my cell phone, like, to book me right back out, you know, post bond, and uh I ran into Paul on release. We fist bumped. Like, everything seems cool, you know.
Um And we we get [clears throat] back to the Airbnb. Uh I recorded a video while it was all fresh in my mind, which I Lars got that.
Um and they tell me I'm going to be in court Monday, uh which was a little stressful because my flight home was Monday, and at this point, I wanted nothing more than to just go back home, man.
Um So, [snorts] Monday rolls around, and uh we go to court, uh me and Ryan. He's not been arrested, so he's just there with me. Uh and we're we're we go in for my They They do it a little different down there. Like, in Memphis, if you get arrested, your first court hearing is your arraignment, right? Down there, they do a probable cause hearing first. So, it's my probable cause hearing.
And uh I I to hear the probable cause statement that the police had put together read out loud in court. And that's when I first learned Paul's name, Emery's name, Ann's name. Um But it's also where I learned that VIPD responded to that island not for trespassing. Somebody called them and reported a kidnapping. Me. So I don't know who did that.
Um we've we've asked for the 911 calls, but my gut tells me it was one of those Haitians, dude. I think somebody on that island was scared of what was about to happen. Because nobody on my boat had a clue I'd been kidnapped at all. They were clueless. They thought I was being detained for trespassing.
Um We decided to stick around in court because we heard Ann Rodriguez's name in in my probable cause statement, and we notice Ann Rodriguez has court this morning, and she's in custody. That's strange because I know she hasn't been indicted on kidnapping me yet. What's going on? So we sit through that appearance, too. And as it turns out, a month prior or maybe a little more than a month, I think it was like on March 1st, she kidnapped a Spaniard at gunpoint. >> What? >> a drone on the island. Yeah. Kid- Kid- And made him strip butt ass naked and hog tied him, too.
Uh The Spaniard's brother was able to escape on boat, got the police. The police came back and found the the dude hog tied butt naked in the boat.
Um And so that's what she was in custody for was kidnapping this dude at gunpoint. Now, it turned out to be a fake gun, but that doesn't matter. You can't, you know, use a BB gun to kidnap somebody.
Um [clears throat] so there's obviously a pattern of this. And so now the pieces start kind of coming together, you know, I heard the Haitian say this has happened seven times. Well, now I know of two times, Spaniard and me. What happened to the other five guys? Or were they just, you know, running their mouth? Maybe it didn't happen seven times. Maybe it's only happened twice, but clearly there's a pattern of this behavior.
>> Mhm. >> Um you know, hindsight, I don't know that she intended for me to leave that island. Like I I don't know what the actual plan was. But the fact that the woman who ran that island for Jeffrey Epstein is not only running it today, she lives on it in this gigantic mansion, I assume, cuz that's the only residence I'm aware of on the island. The guys on the island that work there refer to her as the owner. She's kidnapping people and throwing them in a room she calls the dungeon. Like, what the [ __ ] is going on? And it Why with the release of all these files and all the public outcry of Epstein why am I the only guy who's been arrested for being on that island?
>> You know why. >> [sighs] >> Do I? >> Yeah. It's [ __ ] up, Shawn.
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