Three charged in violent kidnapping
Police say woman was beaten, stripped of her clothing, injected with heroin before being pushed off bridge into Rio Grande
Three people have been arrested in what police say was the violent kidnapping late last week of a woman who was forced into a car at gunpoint in Española, tortured and pushed off a bridge over the Rio Grande.
The woman floated down the river and was able to climb onto the riverbank and get to a nearby residence, where she called law enforcement early Saturday morning, New Mexico State Police said in a news release issued Wednesday.
The news release did not identify a possible motive, and the agency did not respond to questions about what might have prompted the attack.
According to criminal complaints and an affidavit for an arrest warrant filed this week in Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court, which say the incident began Friday, Brenton Rael, 44, of Petaca; Kevin Gonzales, 41, of Hernández; and Leann Romero, 27, of Santa Cruz each faces multiple felony charges in the case, including a count of first-degree kidnapping to inflict death, physical injury or a sexual offense; tampering with evidence; and assault with intent to kill.
Rael and Romero also face charges of conspiracy and aggravated assault, while Gonzales faces a charge of possession of a controlled substance.
Several documents in the cases against Rael and Gonzales that could contain details about the kidnapping have been sealed by the courts.
State police said in the news release Wednesday that Rael is accused of forcing the woman at gunpoint into the front passenger seat of a vehicle on Taos Lane in Española. The statement does not specify the exact time the kidnapping occurred.
Rael then struck the victim multiple times and Romero squeezed her throat, according to the statement.
The suspects put tape over the woman’s eyes and placed a bandanna on her, the statement said, and then drove her to a home in El Duende, a community north of Hernández.
At the residence, the statement said, someone removed the woman’s clothing, drenched her in bleach and injected her with heroin.
The woman was then taken to a bridge spanning the Rio Grande on N.M. 74, near Ohkay Owingeh, and was pushed into the water.
The Ohkay Owingeh Police Department initially responded to the woman’s report around 2 a.m. Saturday, the state police statement said. The state agency took over the investigation because the woman is not a tribal member.
State police officers obtained a search warrant for Rael’s home, where they found tape, bleach, a red strap, a blue bandanna, human hair and a bag of clothing belonging to the victim, the statement said.
Officers also found a red bandanna near the bridge where the woman said she had been pushed.
Rael was arrested on a no-bond warrant Monday at a Shell gas station on Riverside Drive in Española, according to a statement of probable cause filed Tuesday in Rio Arriba County Magistrate Court. During the arrest, a state police officer found a black handgun, as well as small bags containing what is suspected to be heroin and methamphetamine, inside his vehicle, the court document said.
He faces a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and two counts of possession of a controlled substance, due to the items seized from his vehicle, according to the document.
Gonzales was arrested Saturday at his home off Rio Arriba County Road 129, state police Officer Dusty Francisco, an agency spokesman, said in an email Wednesday.
Both Rael and Gonzales were booked into the Rio Arriba County jail in Tierra Amarilla.
Romero was arrested around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Francisco said.
Both Rael and Gonzales are set to appear before state District Judge Jason Lidyard at 8 a.m. Friday for hearings to determine whether they pose a risk to the community and should be detained without bond until their trials.
A hearing for Romero had not been scheduled as of Wednesday evening.