Tulsa Metal Workers Protect Woman Who Told Them She'd Escaped Kidnapper

A man is behind bars, charged with kidnapping his ex-wife and holding her hostage for three days in his home.

Police say after being held hostage in his house for three days, the victim set a fire to distract her kidnapper and then bolted out the door and ran through a fence to a nearby business.

"She was screaming, ‘He's after me. He's gonna kill me. He's got a gun; he is coming to kill me,’” Jason Riley of Interstate Steel & Metals recalled.

Employees at Interstate Steel and Metals in Tulsa were working Tuesday afternoon when they saw a woman running onto their property.

"She was very distressed,” said Riley. "Her eyes were black and swollen, she had scratches all over her arms, there were big chunks of her hair missing."

The arrest report says the victim was kidnapped by her ex-husband and held hostage in this home for days.

Related Story: Tulsa Man Accused Of Kidnapping, Beating Ex-Wife

The victim says Steven Shannon beat her, pistol-whipped her with his guns, choked her until she passed out and threatened to kill her.

On Tuesday, the victim escaped by starting a fire in the bathroom to distract her kidnapper, then ran out of the house, across the street and on to the property of Interstate Steel.

"My first instinct is to lock down the building,” said Riley. “I put some of my employees on each door to make sure nobody was coming in or out."

Riley sat with the victim in his office and called police, while he says the suspect roamed the area with a gun.

"It's kind of scary that you have a woman here that you are trying to protect that an armed person is looking for,” said Riley. "I was armed, another gentleman here was armed and we were ready to protect her and ourselves if needed.”

Police arrested Shannon on five complaints, including abuse with a deadly weapon, strangulation and kidnapping.

The business owners say they were glad to help.

They say it was the right thing to do and encourage others to do the same.