Man kidnaps Texas woman from her home and demands ransom, police say

Laredo police arrested a man on Wednesday accused of kidnapping a woman for ransom, according to the department.

Police say they received a phone call at 8:13 p.m. stating a “21-year-old woman had been abducted by a pair of unknown men,” the department wrote in a news release on Facebook.

According to the man who called 911, “he received a phone call from a man stating that they had the woman abducted and they would harm her if their money demands were not met.”

Police discovered the vehicle they believed was used in the abduction was a gray Ford Expedition.

“The grey Ford was spotted near Convent Ave by law enforcement and a marked Laredo police patrol car attempted to conduct a felony traffic stop on the Ford,” the department reported. “The kidnapped victim was suspected of being inside the vehicle.”

Police started to stop the vehicle near Gonzalez Street and San Bernardo Avenue, where the woman thought to be the victim reportedly exited and began screaming for someone to help her.

After making sure the victim was safe, police tried to perform a traffic stop on the Expedition, but the driver led police on a chase then got out and led police on a foot chase, police said.

Juan Francisco Amador Vasquez, 31, was caught shortly after.

“The victim stated that she was abducted by force by the driver and another male subject from a residence on 3800 E. San Francisco,” police reported. “The victim stated that she was held against her will while the suspects demanded ransom money from the victim’s relatives.”

Police say the victim was not injured.

Vasquez, however, was charged with aggravated kidnapping for ransom and evading arrest with a motor vehicle, according to police.

Attempted kidnapping is not unfamiliar to the Laredo community, per The Laredo Morning Times.

Two men with gang ties to the Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos last week were “arrested for kidnapping immigrants who had entered the country illegally, according to the Webb County Sheriff’s Office,” the publication reported.

Suspects Jesus Chaires, 19, and Angel Guerrero, 20, reportedly forced immigrants into their vehicle and held them captive without food for two days, the WCSO reported, according to the LMT.

Both men were charged with aggravated kidnapping, but are now out on bond, the LMT reported.