SAN JOSE, California. – San Jose police announced Thursday the arrest of three people suspected in a kidnapping and torture case earlier this year.
Investigators said the kidnapping happened Feb. 13, while a man was being detained in the 2600 block of Million Court.
“Several suspects detained the victim against his will and tortured and assaulted him several times,” police said in a press release.
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Investigators said the victim was eventually released and showed up at a local hospital two days after the alleged kidnapping.
Detectives from the police department’s robbery unit launched an investigation that led to the arrest of Duc Nguyen, Kim Ho and Dayton Pham last week.
A search warrant related to the case resulted in the discovery of illegal slot machines and illegal marijuana for sale, police said.
The suspects face charges of robbery, kidnapping, torture and assault with a deadly weapon.
San Jose police also noted that during the investigation they linked Nguyen to other crimes, including being the “prime suspect” in a large organized retail store theft ring the bureau is investigating. of the Santa Clara County Sheriff was investigating.
In that case, Nguyen and 12 other suspects were arrested on suspicion of stealing approximately $150,000 worth of merchandise from South Bay retailers.
The arrests in the case followed search warrants at two San Jose residences, where the stolen items were found, according to detectives.
“It wasn’t a small operation. It was pretty big,” said Capt. Brendan Omori of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. “(Nguyen) is undoubtedly one of the leaders of the organization. He is what we call the receiver – an individual who receives stolen goods and ultimately puts them together to distribute and resell them later.”
SEE ALSO: Retail theft crackdown leads to recovery of millions worth of goods
The Sheriff’s Office said its High Impact Team and Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team arrested the suspects with assistance from the San Jose and Campbell police departments.
As part of the investigation, the High Impact team worked closely with Home Depot, one of the area’s leading retailers.
Sheriff’s officials said most of the items recovered, worth about $110,000, came from Home Depot.
About $40,000 in additional merchandise came from Target, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, Macys and Sunglass Hut, investigators said.
“The collaborative effort between law enforcement and the private sector has proven instrumental in disrupting the operations of organized retail theft rings,” the sheriff’s office said.
Besides Duc Nguyen, the other suspects identified in the retail theft case were Hoan Nguyen, Phuoc Nguyen, Dat Nguyen, Duyen Le, Dat Tran, Lisa Butler, Chau Vo, Su Nguyen, Anita Nguyen, Hoang Luu and Tu Nguyen.
They face charges of robbery, possession of stolen property, conspiracy and organized retail theft.
“They were carrying things. We didn’t know what was happening, but they were people who didn’t live there and they didn’t seem very reputable,” said a neighbor, who was not identified. identified.
Another neighbor described what he heard and saw during the raid. “It happened just as I was getting up to go to work. And I heard the flash bangs right next to my room. And I heard the commotion outside,” Trong said Nguyen.
KTVU’s Jesse Gary contributed to this report.
Santa Clara County sheriff’s officials said $150,000 worth of stolen property was discovered, leading to the arrest of 13 people. Most of the stolen items came from Home Depot, investigators said.
(Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office)
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s officers recovered approximately $150,000 in stolen property. 13 people were arrested in this case.
(Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office)
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