Three Florida men have been charged with kidnapping after they allegedly forced a man into their car at gunpoint Friday morning and took him to an Airbnb, where they tortured him over an alleged debt owed someone else.
They kidnapped the wrong man, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Brothers Jeffry and Jonathan Arista and Raymond Gomez put an electric drill, guns, and a taser to the man’s head anyway, and even waterboarded him in the rental’s bathroom before concocting a plan to have their victim lure the intended target to them from the strip club where they both worked.
678214258-Complaint by kc wildmoon on Scribd
Then they drove the victim to the business and sent him in. Rather than lure the intended target out, however, the victim told the target what was going on and then called in a fake bomb threat and directed officers to Jeffry Arista, who was filming the victim as he went to the business.
Jonathan Arista was arrested nearby. Gomez was arrested the next day at the Airbnb, where he and another man appeared to be removing items and cleaning up.
Gomez subsequently gave investigators a full statement about the events, corroborating the victim’s story.
The three men have been charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap and could face life in prison if convicted. The Arista brothers have been arraigned; Gomez has yet to make his first court appearance.
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[Featured image: Jeffry Arista, Jonathan Arista, and Raymond Gomez/Broward Sheriff’s Office]