NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Brooklyn man who kidnapped and extorted a deliveryman at gunpoint, seeking just $700, was sentenced on Monday to six years in prison.
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Francisco Jimenez, 28, kidnapped the man with the help of convicted co-defendant Rondell Halley in October 2018 on Gates Avenue in Bushwick when the bumper of the worker's white van brushed against a parked Honda CR-V, the Daily News reported.
The 32-year-old victim told the outlet that Jimenez and Halley appeared out of nowhere and demanded $40 for the scratch as the man prepared to drop off baby food and other products for children.
When the deliveryman said he had no cash, Jimenez put a .25-caliber handgun to his head and threatened to stall the unnamed victim's release unless he arranged for his boss to pay $700.
Jimenez, Halley and the victim ended up in a Queens parking lot, where the man was forced to dump his van and call his boss for a ransom, according to the report.
After his boss called 911 and investigators observed him withdraw money from a Chase ATM, there was a police chase on the Upper West Side.
The money was exchanged at W. 73rd Street and Broadway, but Jimenez and Halley reportedly fled in opposite directions when they realized police were following them.
Both men were ultimately arrested a short time later — one on a fire escape and the other in a stolen BMW at street level.
Halley was sentenced in June to a year and nine months for his role in the kidnapping and extortion scheme.
"Francisco Jimenez and Rondell Halley threatened a New Yorker at gunpoint, took him hostage, and demanded money from his employer for his return," said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. "Now, both have been held accountable."
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