Santa Rosa Man Arrested for Alleged Kidnapping of 2 Brothers in Drug Deal Dispute
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- A 24-year-old Santa Rosa man was arrested Saturday afternoon, suspected of kidnapping two brothers and holding them for ransom after what Santa Rosa police said was a marijuana deal gone bad.
Juan Canchola was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping for ransom and of false imprisonment after he allegedly used a replica handgun to threaten the two Santa Rosa brothers whom the suspect accused of stealing "a substantial amount of marijuana" while the sale was being worked out, police said.
Police were called at 4:11 a.m. Saturday to a house in the 2300 block of Apple Valley Lane, a short distance west of Coddingtown Mall. A woman there, the mother of the two brothers, told officers she'd received a phone call from an unknown man saying that if she did not give him a "substantial amount of money," she wouldn't see her sons again.
Detectives tracked the suspect to a residence in the 4200 block of Sebastopol Road, where two men were bound with duct tape and zip ties and detained. One of the brothers, police said, was eventually released to get the ransom money and bring it to the suspect.
Police detectives contacted the freed victim, who told police his brother was still tied up and being held for ransom at the house on Sebastopol Road. The Santa Rosa Police Department's SWAT and Hostage Negotiations teams were called in; at about 1 p.m. Saturday, officers from those teams moved in on the Sebastopol Road residence and arrested Canchola without incident. Neither brother was injured.
Police found several pieces of evidence related to the kidnapping, including a replica firearm allegedly used to threaten the brothers, at the Sebastopol Road house.
Police say Canchola and the two brothers are suspected of being involved in a marijuana deal, and that a "substantial amount" of the drug came up missing. Police said Canchola blamed the brothers, and said he kidnapped them and sought a ransom because he had to pay off the debt from the marijuana deal.
Police ask that anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the Violent Crimes Investigation Team at (707) 543-3590.
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