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Phoenix police rescued a 21-year-old man yesterday who was run off the road while driving his car in Tucson, kidnapped at gunpoint, bound, driven to Phoenix, and held for ransom.
The Phoenix Police Department was alerted by a local media outlet that a woman called to report that her brother was taken and that his kidnappers were demanding ransom.
The woman also told police that her husband was en route to Phoenix to pay the kidnappers and get the man back. Luckily, police managed to intercept the husband before the ransom was paid.
The PPD’s Home Invasion Kidnapping Enforcement squad devised a plan to rescue the man as the kidnappers continued to demand ransom from the family and threaten to kill the victim.
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The suspects were met at a restaurant near 23rd Avenue and Thomas Road armed with semi-automatic pistols.
The HIKE squad was able to safely rescue the victim, who was still bound with duct tape around his hands and had duct tape covering his eyes.
The two suspects, 20-year-old Luis Alberto Cervantes and 20-year-old Gabriel Luz-Hernandez, were taken into custody without incident, despite being armed with the semi-automatic pistols.
Phoenix police say both suspects admitted involvement in the kidnapping.
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In addition to spilling his guts about the kidnapping, Luz-Hernandez copped to an unsolved armed robbery in Phoenix.
The victim sustained minor injury during the kidnapping.
Both Cervantes and Luz-Hernandez have been charged with kidnapping, extortion, weapons violations, and armed robbery.
What comes next has proven to be a bit of a doozy for Phoenix cops: accurately recording the aforementioned crime as a kidnapping.
