Posted on 04/22/2005 4:40:20 PM PDT by Dubya
ARLINGTON - Officers investigating a burglary Wednesday stumbled upon a man who they said had been beaten, burned with cigarettes and held hostage at gunpoint for three days inside an east Arlington apartment.
Three officers went to the Las Lomas Apartments on Timberlake Circle to interview a man who had reported that his apartment was burglarized last week. Once inside the ground-floor unit, an officer saw a semiautomatic handgun on a table and asked the man, Jorge Estrada, if anyone else was inside the apartment.
At first, Estrada said he was alone. Then he told police that his friend was in the bathroom. Detective Travis Mott knocked on the bathroom door. A bloodied and beaten man emerged and fell to the ground.
"There was a look of relief on his face," Mott said. "He kept whispering to us, 'You got to come in. They are trying to kill me.' "
The 21-year-old Arlington man had bruises, cuts and cigarette burns on his face, Mott said. The man's T-shirt and sweatpants appeared to have been ripped to shreds by his four captors' pit bull.
"They had told him they would shoot him if he tried to run," said Mott, who said the man allegedly owed his captors money for drugs. "Things like that don't happen here. You might read about it in a novel or something."
The man, whose name was not released, was taken by ambulance to Arlington Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and released.
Police arrested Estrada, 20, and Juan Manuel Martinez Gonzalez, 19, both of Arlington, on suspicion of aggravated kidnapping. Estrada is being held in Arlington Jail on $1 million bail. Gonzalez's bail is set at $100,000.
Warrants have been issued for Eric Lee Cuellar, 18, and Cesar Manuel Mendoza, 19, both of Arlington. Police ask anyone with information on their whereabouts to call (817) 459-5805 or Crime Stoppers at (817) 469-8477. Callers can remain anonymous.
Post the Pit bull photo...
Sounds like another case of "undocumented migrants" just committing the crimes that Americans don't want to commit.
Something doesn't make sense. The police went to interview Estrada because he "had reported that his apartment was burglarized." I'm no expert, but I guess that they would not have a warrant to simply interview someone. As such, why did Estrada let the cops in if he had a hostage in the bathroom? The only answer that comes to mind is stupidity.
Maybe the guy was using his own product when he called the police. :^)
Just little lovable pets. Wouldn't hurt even a baby. :^)
Yeah, that sounds like a reasonable explanation.
Two Cabbage heads were walking down a road one day and one
was struck by a car. The other Cabbage head picked him up
and took him to the hospital where the Doctor worked on him.
When the doctor came out he said "I have good news and bad
news."
"The good news is that I sewed his head up and got his
leaves all back on straight. The bad news is he will be a
vegetable the rest of his life."
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