Following the alleged kidnapping of four individuals, including a teenage girl and a 6-month-old baby, last week in Southern California, investigators announced they have two suspects in custody.
After the two other adults who were kidnapped managed to escape and dial 911, police discovered the baby and the 14-year-old girl unharmed inside a hotel room in Costa Mesa early on Thursday morning, according to the Westminster Police Department.
The suspects, Michael Alexander Rodriguez, 26, and Bich Dao Vo, also known as Michelle Rodriguez, were detained on suspicion of kidnapping, assault with a handgun, robbery, false imprisonment, endangering a child, and being felons in possession of a firearm on Thursday during a traffic check. One of the adult victims is linked to Dao Vo, 30, by blood.
According to online jail records, the two suspects were kept in custody on Sunday without being released on bail and are scheduled to appear in court the following week. It wasn’t immediately obvious if they had legal representatives who could speak for them.
The kidnapping of a toddler on Thursday was the second such incident in California in recent weeks. A man is accused of forcing an 8-month-old baby girl, her parents, and her uncle out of their central California trucking company earlier this month.
About an hour after the kidnapping, the suspect, a former employee with whom the business had a long-running conflict, is suspected of killing the family in an almond orchard. He entered a not-guilty plea.
The suspects in the Westminster case, according to police, forced their way into a Westminster home and demanded money while carrying a weapon. When no money was found, Rodriguez allegedly pistol-whipped the two adults—a male and a woman.
At the Costa Mesa hotel, the suspects threatened to kill the four victims if they didn’t give them money and forced them into a cargo van under the threat of a gun, according to Westminster Police.
The adults made it back to their Westminster home, where they dialled 911, after managing to escape. According to police, they were both found by officers with gushing head wounds.
Once the suspects were in custody, authorities were able to free the kids from the hotel and later discovered a loaded.40-calibre revolver and an AK-47-style rifle inside the cargo van.
