CAMDEN, N.J. (1010 WINS) — Four men face charges for allegedly kidnapping a man on a New Jersey street and demanding a $100,000 ransom from the victim’s family, prosecutors announced Monday.
Melvin Severino, Welber Antonio Jesus, Yoandry Rodriguez, Cesar Alexander Batista Alcantara — all between the ages of 21 and 25 — allegedly approached the victim from behind on a Camden street last Thursday night.
They then covered the man's head and bounded him with plastic restraints as they beat him and tossed him into a getaway vehicle, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig’s office.
The four allegedly transported the victim to a Camden home, where they continued to beat him with a “hard object,” prosecutors said in a news release.
Eventually, they removed the bloodied victim’s head covering and sent photos and videos of him to his family using the victim’s phone, prosecutors alleged.
They then allegedly threatened to kill the victim unless his family paid more than $100,000.
The FBI and local law enforcement managed to locate the Camden home where the man was being held and found all four suspects inside with the victim two days later, on Saturday, prosecutors said. The family did not pay the ransom.
The victim was transported to Cooper University Hospital.
The defendants are scheduled to appear in Camden federal court on Tuesday. Their kidnapping charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000.