A Ridge man is accused of holding a mother and her three kids captive, and police say a quick-thinking gas station customer helped get them free.

In surveillance video, a mother is seen carrying one of her 3-year-old twins into a police car. The woman's 13-year-old son was carrying the other twin.

The group was saved after police say William Jamal Wilkinson took them hostage.

Police say they took 36-year-old Wilkinson, of Ridge, into custody at a Mobil gas station in Roslyn Heights on Tuesday afternoon.

According to police, Wilkinson refused to let his girlfriend and her three kids, including the twin boys who have autism, out of his black Ford Taurus.

A gas station employee says a man ran up to him saying the woman needed help, because she was holding a call 911 sign up to her window.

Domenica Lostritto, of Glen Head, says she commends the witness for getting involved and running for help after seeing what was happening.

Wilkinson pleaded not guilty to unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child.
He's due back in court tomorrow.