Two people were arrested for kidnapping a family and demanding money (Picture: AP)
Two suspects were arrested for kidnapping a family of four, including a 6-month-old baby, in a U-Haul van.
Michael Rodriguez and Bich Dao Vo, also known as Michelle Rodriguez, were taken into custody by police in Westminster, California for the armed kidnapping of a mother, her son-in-law, and two children, one 14-year-old girl and one boy under a year old.
Vo is the mother’s daughter and the sister of the teenager. The 6-month-old boy is her son, police told the Orange County Register.
Rodriguez and Vo allegedly forced their way into the victims’ home in Westminster with a handgun and demanded they hand over money.
Michael Rodriguez and Bich Dao Vo were charged with multiple felonies for the attack (Picture: AP)
When the parents couldn’t find any money, Rodriguez pistol-whipped the adults.
Rodriguez and Vo then forced the family at gunpoint into a U-Haul van. They drove them to a nearby motel and again threatened them for money.
At some point in the night, the two adult victims were able to escape the motel room and make it back to their house on foot. They called 911 from their home, where police found them bleeding from head wounds.
Police arrived at the motel and arrested Rodriguez and Vo without incident. They found the two children unharmed in the motel room.
Rodriguez and Vo forced the victims into a U-Haul van (Picture: AP)
Police found a loaded AK-47 in Rodriguez and Vo’s U-Haul van (Picture: AP)
Upon searching the U-Haul, they found a loaded AK-47 assault rifle and a loaded .40-caliber handgun.
‘This violent and disturbing crime is particularly disturbing, due to the young age of the two of the victims,’ Westminster Police Chief Darin Lenyi said. ‘The Westminster Police Department Major Crimes Unit will be further investigating this incident.’
The duo was booked at Orange County Jail and charged with kidnapping, assault with a firearm, robbery, false imprisonment, child endangerment, and felony possession of a firearm.
This is the second major kidnapping of a family California has seen in the last month. A family of four, including an 8-month-old baby, was kidnapped from their trucking business in Merced.
The family was tragically discovered dead in an orchard 140 miles away.
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