Calif. Police Arrest Suspect In Twin Cities Kidnapping
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The suspect in a Twin Cities kidnapping case was arrested in downtown Los Angeles Thursday after attempting to run from police officers.
Jesus Ramirez, 31, is charged with four counts of kidnapping and one count of aggravated robbery in the first degree.
According to the criminal complaint, the Safe Streets Task Force began investigating a possible abduction case around 6 p.m. April 14.
Upon investigation, police learned two people had been abducted.
According to the criminal complaint, a witness told police the victims had been taken in the 3200 block of 19th Avenue in Minneapolis by four Hispanic men.
The witness said the men had approached the victims in an alley with a gun and forced them into a car.
Police said one of the victim's family began receiving calls a little after 6 p.m. from the hostage takers claiming the victim had taken 30 pounds of methamphetamine from them.
They demanded the drugs be returned or a payment of $300,000 be given to them and threatened the victim and the family if the demands were not met, according to police.
On April 15, police were able to locate the victims and learned that the victims had been tied to chairs and tortured by the men.
One of the victim's pink fingers had been severed during the attack.
The suspects had also taken the victim's cellphones, but police were able to recover one of the phones from the abduction site.
According to the criminal complaint, one of the victims described one of the suspects as having a skull tattoo with horns on his neck.
Using that description and information from the recovered phone, police were able to locate two of the men at the 900 block of Palace Avenue in St. Paul, Minn.
Police arrested Jonathan Delgado Alvarez, 22, and Antonio Navarro, 19, from the house.
Alvarez confessed to the abduction and told police he had flown from California to Minnesota with Ramirez and one other man, police said.
Ramirez had left the residence prior to police arrival.
According to the Associated Press, Los Angeles police located Ramirez on Thursday.
Ramirez then led police on a car chase and eventually fled on foot. Officers later found and arrested Ramirez in a North Hollywood motel.
If found guilty, Ramirez faces 20 years in prison, a $35,000 fine or both for each charge.