Posted on 06/07/2015 12:44:23 AM PDT by nickcarraway
The Twelve Tribes religious group has a commune and farm in north San Diego's Vista and Valley Center areas
Deputies in north San Diego are investigating a kidnapping involving three people who allegedly tried to rescue a family member they believed was being brainwashed by a religious community.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said three suspects were arrested in connection with the kidnapping of a 23-year-old man they claimed they were rescuing from the Twelve Tribes Community/Church in Vista Friday.
Deputies stopped the bizarre kidnapping around 5 p.m. in the 1500 block of Foothill Drive.
The sheriff’s department said a deputy responding to a different incident in the area thought he heard a car crash on a nearby street. He then saw two vehicles – a gray van and a red van – speed away from the scene.
Believing this was a hit-and-run, the deputy called for backup. Additional deputies tried to pull over both vans, but both vehicles failed to stop.
A pursuit began, but ended shortly thereafter on Foothill Drive.
At that point, deputies detained four people from the red van and one person from the gray van. While asking questions, deputies learned the incident was not a hit-and-run, but rather a chase that stemmed from a kidnapping that had happened minutes earlier at a house in Vista that also serves as the Twelve Tribes church.
Investigators said the gray van was pursuing the red van in which the victim was being held by the suspects.
The suspects – Andres Martinez-Manso, 51; Eliza Martinez, 25; and Robert Harry Matthew, 25 – are all related to the kidnapping victim and told deputies they were trying to rescue the man from the church because they believed he was being brainwashed. The incident remains under investigation.
The Twelve Tribes operates religious communities all over the United States. The group began in 1972 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Members in north San Diego live together in a home in the 2600 block of Foothill Drive that doubles as a church. The Twelve Tribes also has a farm in Valley Center, about 18 miles away from the Vista location. Members also own The Yellow Deli, a restaurant located at 315 East Broadway in the Vista Village.
NBC 7 reached out to Twelve Tribes for comment on the kidnapping case and spokesperson Andrew Peter had this to say:
“We’re thankful our friend has been returned to the community to be able to be in a place where they can live according to the desires of their heart and live a life that they believe is right and is pleasing to God. It’s unfortunate that some people don’t understand that and they would try and take away people from a life that is good.”
I went to The Yellow Deli and tried to get recruited. They rejected me. Apparently the Sunshine Carpet Cleaners called and warned them.
“Miiiiindheeeeeeaaadd”
If you’ve never seen the Steve Martin / Eddie Murphy movie called Bowfinger, I highly recommend it.
“Members in north San Diego live together in a home in the 2600 block of Foothill Drive that doubles as a church.”
I’ve been watching the new show Aquarius, about Charles Manson. Maybe he should have called his commune a church and he wouldn’t have had so many hassles.
Manson had hassles because he is a second rate criminal who was a drugged up loon. Then the killings got messy....even being a church wouldn’t have helped that
It’s been a while since I have heard of such a kidnapping. I think it was prevalent during the 1970s and 1980s, when a lot of people were getting caught up in cults (like the Moonies and Hare Krishna) and their families wanted them back and returned to normal.
Are cults still as strong as they were? How are family members supposed to remove their brainwashed relative from those cults once they have been taken in?
“How are family members supposed to remove their brainwashed relative from those cults once they have been taken in?”
I think this is where it gets legally tricky. Anyone 18 and over can determine what path they want in life. If a relative “chooses” to become a Moonie or Hare Krishna, that is probably equated to being a “Methodist” or “Baptist”. i.e. a religious choice. I do remember the cults in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Scary stuff.
So many religious cults in California that back in the early days of TV the old 77 SUNSET STRIP had a program on one. The one with the cute girl cult member who “liked kissing”.
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