Two suspects face charges in alleged Val Verde torture, kidnapping
Both suspects arraigned on seven counts related to incident
A woman who thought she was hanging out with friends in Val Verde last month ended up being taken, tortured and assaulted during a horrific kidnapping in a broken-down trailer in a dirt lot on Monroe Street, according to court documents obtained by The Signal.
The victim, who is not identified in court documents, appeared “extremely lethargic, emotional, scared” and appeared traumatized as she walked to a nearby fire station in Castaic around 9:30 a.m. March 16 and reported her attackers, according to an investigator’s report.
The victim said she had just walked from the intersection of Hasley Canyon Road and Del Valle Drive, where she had been forced out of the car and threatened with her life if she told anyone what had just happened, according to the victim’s account in court records.
Justin Steven Montoya, 24, and Margaret Alexandria Harrison, 42, both were scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in San Fernando on seven counts related to the alleged assault, including aggravated mayhem, torture, kidnapping, assault with firearm on person, threats to commit a crime with intent to terrorize, assault with deadly weapon (not firearm), and carrying a loaded firearm in public under specific circumstances.
The allegations
The victim’s ordeal began around 9 p.m. March 13 while she was at a friend’s house waiting for another friend who was expected to be released from prison, investigators said.
According to the victim’s account to investigators, Montoya, whom the victim had known for about six years, stopped by and asked if she wanted to hang out with him at his place, to which she agreed. The two stayed together that night at Montoya’s trailer, which was in a dirt lot west of Monroe Street, according to the court records.
Montoya left the trailer for about two hours around 9 a.m., and he came back around 11 a.m.
with the codefendant, Margaret Harrison, according to court records’ recounting of what the victim told investigators.
The victim alleged that Montoya said, “Oh, you’re dead now,” and Harrison began assaulting the victim, hitting her in the face multiple times.
The victim also alleged that Harrison pistol-whipped her with the weapon, and then threatened her by saying she would “gut” her.”
Both defendants proceeded to beat up the victim for several hours, according to the victim’s account of events provided to investigators.
During the dayslong captivity, they used clear tape and rope to tie the victim’s hands and cover her mouth to prevent her from screaming, according to an investigator’s report.
The defendants’ alleged behavior involved stuffing her inside of an inflatable mattress, cutting her hair and continuing behavior intended to humiliate the victim, according to the report in court records. The victim also alleged Harrison intentionally sliced a piece of the victim’s ear during the haircut.
The assault reportedly continued at a residence in Sunland, where the victim was assaulted, burned with a torch and struck with an electrical cord, according to the court records. The details alleged in a warrant connected to the investigation indicate the assault was physical and sexual in nature.
“The victim remained at the residence for approximately three days deprived of food and water and kept in the closet of the room with her hands and feet tied behind her back,” according to a victim’s statement in the investigator’s report.
On the morning of the victim’s release, Montoya allegedly drove her back to his Val Verde trailer and he forced her to take her clothes off and then gave her other clothes to wear, according to the court records.
Montoya took her backpack and clothing and threw it in a silver Toyota Prius parked next to the trailer, according to a report of the alleged incident.
She was then driven back to Val Verde in a car the victim thought belonged to a friend of Montoya’s. The victim then walked to the nearby fire station and asked for help.
Arrest and charges
Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials said the investigation was handled by the station’s Detective Bureau, as it involved multiple criminal allegations, as opposed to the Special Victims Unit, which investigates crimes of a sexual nature.
SCV Sheriff’s Station officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the investigation.
A BOLO, or “be on the lookout,” alert was issued by the SCV Sheriff’s Station for Montoya, as deputies learned during a search of the grounds that the man also had stolen license plates on the property, according to evidence listed in a warrant.
Montoya is a documented local gang member, according to the BOLO issued by the Sheriff’s Department, which was issued to law enforcement agencies only in the days following the alleged assault, but obtained by The Signal shortly after it was leaked on social media.
Harrison ultimately was taken into custody by the Los Angeles Police Department in the Van Nuys Division around 4 a.m. April 3.
She is being held in lieu of $2.265 million bail at the Century Regional Detention Center.
SCV Sheriff’s Station deputies arrested Montoya at 11 a.m. April 10 and booked him at the SCV Sheriff’s Station jail. He’s being held without bail at Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.
Harrison failed to appear in Department S in San Fernando on Thursday, according to a court official, so both defendants are expected to appear Friday.
The hearing was to set a schedule for the defendants’ preliminary hearing. At the hearing, the prosecution’s case is presented and a judge decides if there is enough evidence to merit a trial.
The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office did not make a copy of the criminal complaint immediately available Thursday.