UPDATE 5:52 p.m.:
Fox 4 has obtained the police report detailing what happened during the kidnapping and robbery.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office say Nicolas Flores lured a friend to his home to sell him a PlayStation 5, then attacked him with a machete and held him captive for ransom.
According to the police report, Flores pulled out a machete and threatened the victim saying, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I need some of that money you have."
Click here to see Community Correspondent Victoria Quevedo speak with the Sheriff's Office about how to safely buy and sell items:
Lee County Sheriff's spokesperson Julie Sin said Flores then choked his friend until he lost consciousness.
"When our victim came to he woke up and realized that his arms were tied together and his legs were tied together and he couldn't move," Sin said.
Investigators say the victim was tied up with duct tape and zip ties. Detectives say Flores used the victim's face ID to unlock his phone and made several unauthorized transactions from the victim's bank account on Apple Pay.
After being held overnight, deputies say the victim began complaining about losing feeling in his hands and legs.
"The suspect then untied the victim's legs and then went to bed, leaving our victim still in a closet," Sin said.
When Flores fell asleep, deputies say the victim chewed through the duct tape and escaped the home on Candlelight Drive in Lehigh Acres.
The victim went to a family member's house before going to the hospital.
Deputies arrested Flores that same day. Detectives say they found cocaine and fentanyl in Flores's bedroom.
Sin emphasized that while the victim and Flores knew each other — so it wasn't a random attack — people should still be cautious when meeting someone for online transactions.
"When you're doing transactions through Facebook marketplace or meeting someone in public. It's important to meet them in a very public place with other people around," Sin said.
Flores now faces multiple felony charges including kidnapping, armed robbery, and drug possession.
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ORIGINAL STORY:
A Lehigh Acres man was arrested after allegedly tying up a victim and making unauthorized transactions from the victim's bank account during what was supposed to be a PlayStation 5 sale, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.
Nicolas Flores, 31, faces multiple charges including robbery with a weapon, kidnapping, and possession of a controlled substance following the incident that began on July 7, LCSO said.
The victim had planned to meet Flores at his home to buy a PlayStation 5, LCSO said. While inside the home, deputies say, Flores got a machete and choked the victim unconscious. When the victim regained consciousness, his legs and wrists were bound with zip ties and duct tape.Over several hours, detectives say Flores made multiple transactions transferring money from the victim's bank account to his own.
Tuesday morning, the victim managed to escape the home while Flores was asleep, according to LCSO. The victim went to a hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Deputies later found and arrested Flores. A search warrant revealed items used to restrain the victim, along with a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl, according to LCSO.
