Durham woman being held hostage called 911. Why did police leave?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Durham police responded but left without contact after the victim's 911 call.
- Wiggins faces multiple felony charges amid evidence supporting victim claims.
- Police policies on domestic calls raise oversight questions in initial response.
Editor’s note: This story contains reporting about an alleged sexual assault, a topic that will be disturbing to some readers.
A Durham woman being held hostage in her home was repeatedly beaten and raped — but police left without speaking to her after she first called 911, according to a newly released search warrant.
Her ordeal began Aug. 31, 2024, when Chano Chavinchi Wiggins, 47, of Raleigh allegedly came with the woman to her Old Chapel Hill Road home, the warrant states. The News & Observer is not naming the woman to protect her identity.
After they argued over child care for Wiggins’ children, he allegedly began to beat the woman, who fought back, biting him multiple times, according to the warrant.
When she fell to the ground, Wiggins reportedly kicked her in the head multiple times, making her lip bleed, then said, “I’m going to torture you,” the warrant states. He grabbed salt from the kitchen, pouring it onto her face, and told her, “If I’m going to jail, I’m going for something.”
During a brief respite from the attack, the woman went to the bathroom, but Wiggins came in and continued to beat her, according to the warrant.
The victim’s eyes were so swollen from the assault that she could no longer see properly, according to the warrant. Wiggins then began to kiss her and pulled her into the bedroom, where he allegedly raped her multiple times.
Afterward, Wiggins went into the kitchen, and the woman hit the SOS button on her Ring app to call the police, who “never came,” according to the warrant. After an unspecified amount of time, the victim used her phone to call 911.
“[She] gave the address and said that she was being beaten,” the warrant states. “She hung up the phone quickly so [Wiggins] would not catch her.”
But when police arrived, Wiggins saw them through the living room window and prevented the woman from opening her front door to speak with them, according to the search warrant.
“[Wiggins] held his hand over [her] mouth so she could not cry out to the police,” the warrant states. “Officers left due to [Wiggins] preventing [the woman] from leaving and yelling for assistance.
“When the officers left ... [Wiggins] forced [the woman] into a vehicle and to drive around the city because he did not want to be at the residence if the police came back,” the warrant continues.
The next day, Wiggins was still at the woman’s home, according to the warrant. She suggested they grill and covertly texted a friend.
“[The woman] told her friend to call the police and that she was being held hostage,” the warrant states. “[She] timed it so that [Wiggins] would be outside at the grill.”
The woman went inside and locked the door so Wiggins could not get in, then ran into the bathroom and called the police, according to the search warrant. Wiggins was able to get in through a window and threatened her, saying, “[Expletive], you called the police. I’m gonna kill you. If I go to jail your [expletive] gonna die,” the warrant alleges.
Wiggins took the woman outside to look for her phone, which is when officers arrived, according to the warrant. She was then able to escape, and Wiggins briefly barricaded himself in the home before surrendering to police.
Rape, kidnapping charges
Wiggins is charged with first-degree forcible rape, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree forcible sex offense, breaking/entering to terrorize/injure, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and assault inflicting serious injury, court records show.
Police found evidence in the home that appeared to corroborate the woman’s story, including a bite mark on Wiggins’ chest, a dent in the drywall where he reportedly threw her and a blood-spattered tank top, according to the search warrant. The victim was examined at Duke Hospital, where she had numerous bruises, hemorrhaging in her eyes, black eyes and swelling to the head, the warrant states.
Court records indicate Wiggins has a history of domestic assault. He pleaded guilty in Durham County on Aug. 24, 2022, to assault on a female involving the same victim. Judge Shamieka Rhinehart ruled he did not need to complete an abuser treatment program, but sentenced Wiggins to 100 days in jail.
Wiggins was also previously charged in Wake County in 2018 with second-degree forcible rape, second-degree kidnapping, assault on a female, interfering with emergency communications, injury to personal property and a second-degree forcible sex offense, but those charges were dismissed in October 2019 by the district attorney’s office for “insufficient evidence,” according to court records.
Police orders and procedures
A spokesperson for the Durham Police Department initially declined to comment on the incident but referred The N&O to the department’s publicly posted general orders and procedures.
“A residence may be entered, and persons and property may be searched, without a warrant, if probable cause to search and exigent circumstances exist,” the department’s policy on warrantless search procedures states.
Supervisors are also supposed to respond to domestic violence calls whenever possible, according to department policies. It’s not clear if officers tried to enter the woman’s home or if a supervisor was on scene during the response to her initial 911 call.
On Thursday afternoon, seven hours after this story posted, Durham police sent new information to The N&O saying the first call came in Sept. 1, with someone whispering the address and hanging up.
“The call was not dispatched as either domestic violence or a hostage,” a different spokesperson said. “An officer arrived 5 minutes after being dispatched but did not have information that would constitute exigent circumstances and the call was cleared.”
Wiggins’ bail was reduced from $2.5 million to $100,000 in February, and he posted a bail bond April 21, according to court records. The charges against him were still pending as of Wednesday afternoon.
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This story was originally published June 12, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
