Five people have been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and other charges after a Colorado Springs man said he was captured at gunpoint and driven to Commerce City on Sunday.
Adams County sheriff’s deputies on Wednesday raided a house in the 8500 block of Dahlia Street, where they found the kidnap victim and the suspects.
According to Colorado Springs police, Alejandro Solis Garcia, 25, drove his car Sunday to the residence of Luis Arturo Mendez-Martinez in the 4300 block of Edison Avenue in Colorado Springs. The two were acquaintances. Mendez-Martinez allegedly was interested in buying Garcia’s car.
Garcia told police he was met by five people in a burgundy Lincoln who shoved him at gunpoint into the back seat and drove away. Garcia’s family said they received telephone calls stating Garcia would be slain if they didn’t provide a ransom of cash, three vehicles and drugs, according to police.
Police, with cooperation of the victim’s and suspects’ cellphone providers, were able to track the Lincoln to the Dahlia Street location in Adams County on Wednesday, where the arrests were made.
Those arrested include Mendez-Martinez, 26, of Commerce City; Angelina Franceschi, 18, no address given; Reyes Meraz-Rubio, 22, of Colorado Springs; Marco Antonio Peinado-Caraveo, 24, of Colorado Springs; and one juvenile.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
