MIAMI – A Miami man is facing three felony charges after police said he robbed a man he had recently met at a restaurant and then kidnapped him for a five-figure ransom as they drove in the city’s Brickell neighborhood in mid-April.
Miami police took the accused assailant, Andy Josue Torres Garcia, 18, of Little Havana, into custody on Tuesday.
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According to police, the kidnapping happened in the late evening hours of April 15.
An arrest report states that the victim told investigators that he had met Torres-Garcia at Guembos Grill, a Central American restaurant along Northwest 22nd Avenue in the Allapattah neighborhood, on April 13 and the two kept in touch.
Authorities said Torres Garcia picked up the victim at his home two days later and they made a brief stop at the Sexyyy Lady Cabaret on Northwest 79th Street, where Torres Garcia talked to a bouncer “for a few minutes.”
The report states that the two drove to Brickell and the victim recognized his workplace.
Then, in the area of Southwest First Avenue and 13th Street, Torres Garcia “retrieved a black gun from the interior front driver side door and pressed it against the victim’s ribcage” and told him “I will kill you here,” demanding his belongings, it states.
“In fear, the victim handed over his phone, wallet and chain,” police wrote. “The victim begged (Torres Garcia) to let him go, but (he) continued driving with the firearm pressed against the victim’s ribcage.”
According to police, Torres Garcia then said, “I am going to ask for a ransom for you” before “removing him from the car and leaving him in an unfamiliar area without any means of communication.”
Police said the victim managed to make a more than two-hour walk home, where he was met by family members and Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies.
The report states that the victim’s loved ones called MDSO after receiving a call from the victim’s phone from someone demanding a $35,000 ransom and “threatening to kill the victim if the money was not paid.”
Authorities said surveillance video from the Sexyyy Lady Cabaret showed the pair outside of the strip club on the night of the kidnapping, as the victim described.
Police said they were able to identify Torres Garcia’s vehicle, registered to his mother, and took him into custody Tuesday at a gas station along Coral Way, near Southwest 13th Avenue.
Authorities said Torres Garcia made a statement ― redacted from the report ― after being shown a photograph of the two at the strip club.
Police arrested Torres Garcia on charges of kidnapping with a weapon, armed robbery and threats or extortion.
A Miami-Dade judge found probable cause on all three charges Wednesday, ordering he be held without bond.
Torres Garcia remained in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Wednesday afternoon.