California cops arrest 3 for allegedly raping and kidnapping woman for three weeks
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 29: Handcuffs are seen on the hands of a twenty-year old "Street Villains" gang member who was arrested by Los Angeles Police Department officers from the 77th Street division on April 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. The 77th Street division patrol the same neighborhood that truck driver Reginald Denny was nearly beaten to death by a group of black assailants at the intersection of Florence and Normandie Avenues. It?s been 20 years since the verdict was handed down in the Rodney King case that sparked infamous Los Angeles riots. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) (2012 Getty Images)
Three men were arrested in the case of a woman who reported being held captive and sexually abused for almost two months, authorities said.
Investigators believe José Angel Barajas-Mireles masterminded the kidnapping of the 22-year-old woman, who was held against her will in a rural home in Santa Rosa since the holidays, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said. Authorities initially said she had been held captive for three weeks.
She escaped last week after noticing an open door and went to police.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Barajas-Mireles, 34, is responsible for the sexual abuse and most of the physical assaults, investigators said. He was charged with aggravated sodomy, aggravated oral copulation and aggravated rape. His bail was set at $6 million, an official said Wednesday.
Jaime Gomez Cisneros of Watsonville and Guillermo Crestino Avina of Santa Rosa guarded the victim and prevented her from leaving the compound, the sheriff's office said. Each was charged with false imprisonment and being an accessory.
The suspects were arrested when they went to the sheriff's office to retrieve property seized during the investigation, authorities said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The woman had told police she had been randomly kidnapped at gunpoint from the neighborhood where she lived. But none of the men were charged with kidnapping or firearms violations.
"Out of an overwhelming sense of fear of retaliation coupled with the traumatic events she endured, she initially stated to law enforcement that she had been kidnapped at gunpoint," the office said.