Five arrested after man kidnapped in Berkeley

Five men from South Carolina were arrested after kidnapping a 21year-old man in Berkeley and holding him for $30,000 ransom, police said Monday.

Just after 10 p.m. Saturday, Berkeley police responded to the Knights Inn Motel on University Avenue on a report of a kidnapping, said Officer Byron White, a Berkeley police spokesman.

Officers learned that the victim was kidnapped around 6:30 p.m. that evening, and the suspects threatened to kill the man unless his friend brought $30,000 in cash to an area of Tracy, according to Berkeley police.

White said investigators instead traced the suspects to the city of Patterson, 30 miles south of Tracy, where police were able to locate the victim and arrest five suspects from South Carolina: 27-year-old Jamikaco Tyrone Thompson, of Greenville; 27-year-old Vacenta Rakey Rice, of Fountain Inn; 19-year-old Antravious Marquis Evans, of Fountain Inn; 24-yearold Racal Jamikaco Thompson, of Greenville; and 20-year-old Rodquavious Mikeon Whitehurst, of Greenville.

The suspects were booked into jail on suspicion of kidnapping for ransom, torture, robbery, possession of an assault weapon.

White said the victim was beaten during the kidnapping but his injuries were not life threatening. Police declined to release more information about the victim or circumstances surrounding the case, citing an ongoing investigation.

The suspects are scheduled to appear Wednesday in Alameda County court.