SWEETWATER, FLA. (WSVN) - A police report revealed that a woman and her accomplice kidnapped her roommate in West Miami-Dade, using a U-Haul truck, after she accused the victim of stealing her credit card.
Twenty-nine-year-old Cristina Arrojo and 52-year-old Marcelo Asenjo Garcia appeared before Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy S. Glazer, Friday afternoon.
“Forced the victim into the passenger cabin of the U-Haul truck,” Glazer said during Arrojo’s court appearance.
Officials said the suspects were involved in the kidnapping of Amir Dalit Akbarnia, Arrojo’s roommate, at around 6 p.m. on Thursday.
According to Miami-Dade Police, the 33-year-old victim was with a friend, 35-year-old Nigel Burkes, at a Walmart located on 91st Avenue and Flagler Street, when he got a call from Arrojo offering him a ride.
When she went to meet him, detectives said, Arrojo accused Akbarnia of stealing her credit card from their home.
The arrest report said Asenjo Garcia got out of the U-Haul truck.
“As [the victim] is talking to [Arrojo], the Hispanic male approaches, strikes him, forcibly puts him inside of the truck,” said MDPD Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.
Police said the suspects forced both Akbarnia and Burke into the truck and drove to the victim’s father’s house, but no one was home.
So they continued and apparently got hungry. They made a pit stop at a McDonald’s on West Flagler Street in Sweetwater.
“Everyone gets off the truck to enter the fast food establishment to order food, and that’s when the victim seizes the opportunity to alert an employee and advises them that he had been abducted,” said Zabaleta.
The employee recalled that the victim was scared and panicked as he provided a description of the U-Haul truck and his alleged captors. When the suspects noticed this, Arrojo attempted to take Akbarnia’s wallet and phone, biting him in the process.
“The subject then bites the victim and takes his cellphone and [they] flee in the box truck,” stated Zabaleta.
The employee immediately called 911, leading to a rapid response from Sweetwater Police.
Officers stopped the U-Haul truck was stopped on Southwest 97th Avenue and Sixth Street, and apprehended Arrojo and Asenjo Garcia. Burke, the victim’s friend, was also arrested for drug-related charges.
“Because of the rapid response, they were able to saturate the area, locate the box truck and detain three individuals that were inside,” said Zabaleta.
Arrojo and Asenjo Garcia are being held without bond.
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