New Haven abductor arrested 55 times

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- Quick thinking and a cell phone; that combination may have saved a woman's life in New Haven over the weekend.

Monday, the man accused of robbing and kidnapping the Wallingford woman faced a judge.

Taking the risk to text the word "help," helped police find the woman and Albert LeClaire, who they say was forcing her to drive around the city to buy drugs.

The incident began when the victim drove away from her job at Keys to the City. While slowing driving to get on the highway, the suspect knocked on her window, and thinking he needed help, she rolled it down.

However, police said LeClaire got in the vehicle claiming to have a gun.

The victim says the suspect forced her to drive from this Fair Haven housing project to ATM's three separate times, all the while somehow she was texting.

Upon receiving a text that told him to get the police, the woman's boyfriend called the cops, then took action and actually drove to the Wooster Square area to find her. He continued to notify police with each text updating her location.

An officer reports finding the woman and the suspect along Green Street. She ran to her boyfriend and police arrested LeClaire.

LeClaire has been arrested 55 times since 1988, but these kidnapping and robbery charges could be the most serious he has ever faced.