Kidnapping Suspect’s Ex Denies He Kept Alleged Victim in Makeshift Cell at Their Home: ‘He’s a Good Person’

Despite the chilling kidnapping and sexual assault allegations against Negasi Zuberi, his ex-girlfriend says he is incapable of committing the grisly crimes.

"He's a good person, that's all I know," the unidentified woman, who shares two young children and a home with the suspect, told KPTV-TV in an interview Thursday.

She also denied the charges against Zuberi, 29, who is accused of abducting a woman, sexually assaulting her, and bringing her to his house 450 miles away, where he held her captive in a makeshift cinder block cell.

“He helped my kids, he helped me when I needed help,” his former partner explained. “Even if we didn’t get along, he was helping me. It is sad that he is being accused.”

The family was living together in a Klamath Falls, Oregon, home when his ex-girlfriend (who is referred to in court documents as his wife, although she denies they are married) says he traveled to Seattle on July 15 to look at potential rental properties.

Instead, authorities claim Zuberi drove to the city where he found his alleged victim.

According to court documents, Zuberi locked the woman in a cinder block cell erected in the garage and equipped with a metal door installed in reverse, preventing it from being opened from the inside.

In announcing Zuberi’s arrest Wednesday, authorities said the victim managed to escape the harrowing ordeal by beating down “the door with her hands until they were bloody,” fleeing, and flagging down a passing motorist who called 911.

Still, Zuberi’s ex says she never heard any sort of disturbance coming from the garage, including banging on a door, that day.

“One thing I know, he would never bring anybody to his home where his own kids live, sleep, where he has tenants coming in and out,” Zuberi’s ex explained, ultimately denying the existence of the makeshift cell, the outlet reports.

“It’s not a cinder block, it’s a room,” she said, clarifying he was “just trying to expand” and that “he never ever built something like that. All he was trying to do was expand subleasing.”

Zuberi was arrested July 16 following a 45-minute standoff with police in a Reno, Nevada, parking lot. 

His ex and their children witnessed the arrest, during which authorities said he severely cut himself with a sharp object and attempted to destroy his phone.

Zuberi’s ex declined commenting on the arrest, per KPTV, but said she and her children returned to Klamath Falls via bus.

During the investigation of the family’s home, authorities said they also recovered a note allegedly written by the suspect that was inscribed "Operation Takeover."

Written below were two bullet points that read, "Leave phone at home," and "Make sure they don’t have a bunch of ppl [people] in their life. You don't want any type of investigation," court documents show.

“We are fortunate that this brave woman escaped and alerted authorities," Assistant Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Shark of the FBI Portland Field Office said Wednesday.

"Through quick law enforcement action, we were able to get Zuberi in custody the next day. While she may have helped protect future victims, sadly we have now linked Zuberi to additional violent sexual assaults in at least four states, and there could be more.”

Zuberi has ties to at least 10 other states and used the aliases Sakima Zuberi, Justin Hyche and Justin Kouassi, authorities said.

He will be extradited from Nevada to Oregon in the next three to six weeks, according to the FBI.