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Officials said that an alleged gang member with a criminal record abducted an 82-year-old victim so he could purchase items.
Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna told reporters that Sergio Magana Arechiga, 50, is facing kidnapping for ransom or extortion charges following a June 9 incident in Santa Ana, California.
“First, he took him to an ATM and got the max, $300, out and then took him to a liquor store where he wanted to buy beer,” Bertagna said, according to the Orange County Register. “Then he took him to a hotel where the guy used a credit card to get a room and then got him back into the car to take him to a burger stand, where he bought three meals and then they went to a clothing and shoe store where he got a bunch of clothes and shoes.”
Before the incident, Arechiga was allegedly in the process of burglarizing a home in Floral Park. The victim then walked in and interrupted him at around 5 p.m.
The burglar then knocked down the victim, choked him, and threatened to kill the victim’s wife if he didn’t comply. The victim’s wife wasn’t home, but he went along with Arechiga in his vehicle.
The credit card belonging to the victim was set up to alert his wife and son about purchases. The son realized his father was spending his money in unfamiliar places, Bertagna told the Register, before he used a tracking device that showed the victim was near the intersection of 1st Street and Harbor Boulevard.
The victim was then found in his vehicle, and the suspect fled before his son arrived, Bertagna said.
“So he went and found his father and while the crook had gone into another store the son calls us and the suspect splits,” Bertagna said, according to NBC4.
Police later arrested Arechiga during a separate domestic dispute call last week, officials said.
Court records show that Arechiga has a criminal record dates back 30 years and is reportedly a member of a gang.
Bertagna told Fox News that when Arechiga was taken into custody, he still was in possession of the victim’s credit card.
Republished with Permission The Epoch Times SUBSCRIBE
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