Kidnapping defendant waives hearing
Lara Mountz, 25, facing trial on a half-dozen charges for alleged incident involving a personal ad on Craigslist
Lara Ashley Mountz is charged with trying to abduct a Lansdale man she met on Craigslist.
LANSDALE >> A 25-year-old Drexel Hill woman taken into custody last month for allegedly trying to kidnap a Lansdale man she connected with through a Craigslist personal ad in January is headed for trial on a half-dozen criminal counts after waiving her preliminary hearing Thursday.
Lara Ashley Mountz, of the 4100 block of School Lane — who is behind bars at Montgomery County jail in lieu of $90,000 cash bail — appeared before Lansdale District Judge Edward Levine and waived one count of first-degree felony attempted kidnapping, as well as a variety of felony, misdemeanor and summary conspiracy charges, in connection with the alleged January incident in the borough, records indicate.
No change was made to Mountz’s bail.
Police say that Mountz responded to an online ad the victim had posted on Craigslist seeking companionship, and arranged via a series of text messages to meet the man at his apartment on the 700 block of North Valley Forge Road.
Mountz, who had gone by the pseudonym “Lala” in her communications with the victim, showed up around 11 p.m. on Jan. 25 in a silver Nissan Altima and parked in the rear of the lot outside the man’s apartment, according to court documents.
The pair met up in the parking lot and began to talk. During their conversation, according to police, a man and a woman approached them. The woman pointed a black handgun at the victim, ordered him to the ground and told him, “You’re coming with us,” an affidavit of probable cause indicates.
The victim managed to get to his feet and run while screaming for help, but the man caught up to him and held an unspecified object to his neck while the woman continued to point her gun at him, according to the affidavit. However, the victim was again able to get free and call for help as Mountz and the two assailants fled in the Nissan with Mountz behind the wheel, police said.
Officers responding to the 911 call found the victim in “emotional and physical distress,” according to court documents.
The subsequent investigation identified Mountz as “Lala,” according to court documents.
On April 19, Mountz — who since early February had refused to surrender to Lansdale police on an active felony warrant — was taken into custody by cops in Delaware County after a traffic stop, then was extradited to Montgomery County a week later for her preliminary arraignment, records show.
Earlier in the week, Lansdale detectives said of the man and woman who allegedly attacked the victim during the incident that that aspect of the case remains under investigation. Mountz is due to be formally arraigned in Montgomery County court on July 5.