A kidnapped man was found bound and gagged in a police detective�s garage in Queens, leading to the detective�s suspension and the arrest of four other men, the authorities said on Saturday.
The detective, identified by the police as Ondre Johnson, a 17-year veteran of the New York Police Department and a member of a Brooklyn gang investigation unit, told investigators that he did not use the garage and knew nothing about the abduction.
For now, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case, investigators decided they did not have enough evidence to arrest Mr. Johnson.
�A decision was made last night not to lock him up,� the official said. �What you have is an enormous amount of suspicion, but not the hard evidence tying him into it.�
The police found the kidnapping victim on Friday afternoon after tracing a ransom demand made from a telephone being used at Mr. Johnson�s home on 181st Street in Springfield Gardens, Queens.
When officers arrived, they discovered the victim, whose name was not released, in the single-car garage, which is detached from the house at the end of a short driveway.
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