Accused kidnappers threatened to mutilate teen if his mom didn’t pay ransom, feds say
A mother received several calls from those involved in the kidnapping of her 17-year-old son, who they threatened to mutilate if she didn’t deliver $500,000 in exchange for him, federal prosecutors said.
The morning of Sept. 22, authorities rescued the teen from a Motel 6 in Santa Maria, California after tracking down his accused kidnappers: Fidel Jesús Patino Jaimes, 22, Jair Tomás Ramos Domínguez, 26, and Ezequiel Felix López, 27, according to a federal criminal complaint.
The 17-year-old, who was abducted from San Bernardino County on Sept. 18, was held for ransom for days by the three men, who were arrested Friday morning, prosecutors said.
Jaimes, Domínguez and López were charged with kidnapping in the criminal complaint, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced in a Sept. 25 news release. The trio told authorities they’re all from Santa Ana.
“Few things can be as terrorizing to a parent as having your child kidnapped and held for ransom under threat of physical harm,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “Together with the FBI and our local law enforcement partners, we have acted swiftly to rescue the victim and bring the abductors to justice.”
Information regarding Jaimes, Domínguez and López’s legal representation wasn’t immediately available the morning of Sept. 25.
According to prosecutors, Ring doorbell footage recorded the teen’s kidnapping and helped authorities apprehend the men at the Motel 6 in Santa Maria.
Trio kidnaps teen after causing car crash, feds say
The morning of Sept. 18, Jaimes, Domínguez and López are accused of causing a car crash in San Bernardino County, resulting in the 17-year-old colliding into their silver Jeep Grand Cherokee, according to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint.
When the teen stepped outside his car, the trio forced him inside their car and drove off, prosecutors said.
Shortly afterward, the 17-year-old’s mother answered a call from a Mexican phone number and was informed of her son’s abduction — which the caller blamed her son’s father for — and was demanded to drop off $500,000 to Nogales, Mexico, according to prosecutors.
‘You know what you stole’
In a WhatsApp video sent to the teen’s mother from another Mexican phone number, the 17-year-old was seen inside of his accused kidnappers Jeep Grand Cherokee, reading from a script “saying that the abduction was his father’s fault for an incident that occurred in New York,” and “you know what you stole,” prosecutors said.
Afterward, several calls from Mexican phone numbers demanding ransom payment were made to his mother’s phone, according to prosecutors.
The caller “threatened to cut off body parts” of the 17-year-old if his mother refused to deliver the ransom demand, which was lowered to $100,000, prosecutors said.
The teen is rescued
After reviewing Ring doorbell footage of the teen’s kidnapping and discovering Jaimes, Domínguez and López’s Jeep Grand Cherokee was listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace, authorities were led to the Motel 6 in Santa Maria Sept. 22, prosecutors said.
As authorities executed a search warrant, they discovered Jaimes, Domínguez and López inside the motel room, where one of them dropped a gun on the ground, according to prosecutors.
The teen, found lying on the floor in a corner of the room, was saved by law enforcement, prosecutors said.
If convicted on the kidnapping charges, Jaimes, Domínguez and López could face up to life in prison, the release said.
Santa Maria is about 160 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
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