Thread: AZ: Illegal immigrant kidnapped at gunpoint

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/84519

February 21, 2007

Illegal immigrant kidnapped at gunpoint

Gary Grado, Tribune

A man driving illegal immigrants to California was kidnapped in front of five witnesses Wednesday, but they gave police so little information that they can’t look for him.

The kidnapping occurred after a high speed chase and shooting on westbound I-10 involving two pickup trucks and a small red passenger car, according to Sgt. Rick Griner, Chandler police spokesman.

Police know only that the kidnapped man is named Jose Guzman and in his early twenties and he has a cell phone.

The witnesses didn’t know the telephone number and weren’t able to even to give a description of Guzman’s clothes, Griner said.

“We don’t even have enough information to enter him as a missing person,” Griner said. “There’s nothing more we can do unless someone comes forward.”

Griner gave the following account of the incident.

The car loaded with six illegal immigrants were westbound on I-10 and stopped for gas somewhere south of Chandler when the two pickup trucks approached.

A chase ensued through surface streets and ended up back on I-10.

The Department of Public Safety began getting calls about the dangerous driving.

The trucks forced the car off the road at state Route 202 and I-10, where three men with handguns got out of the trucks and began shooting.

No one was injured and at least one shot struck the car.

They kidnapped the driver, Guzman, and one man tried to commandeer the car, but he might have had trouble starting it or was scared off by highway patrolmen who were nearby.

Griner said the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement took the five illegal immigrants into custody.

One less lawbreaker to wory about.

I often wonder how long the media can keep BS ing the typical American about the whats really going on at the border .

Originally Posted by longcut

I often wonder how long the media can keep BS ing the typical American about the whats really going on at the border .

Longcut, sooner or later something "big" is going to happen at the border, and they won't be able to cover it up and when they can't, I really believe more and more Americans are going to be very upset.

Published: 02.21.2007
Immigrant kidnapping attempt fourth in a month
The Arizona Republic

Three armed gunmen attacked a car with illegal immigrants and kidnapped the driver, the fourth similar type of violent attack in a month.
The attacks have inched closer to the Valley, with today's being the closest: Chandler.
Police say they have little information on the overnight attack. The kidnapped man, José Guzmán, is in his early 20s and from Mexico.
Guzmán, the driver of a red car with five passengers, pulled off westbound Interstate 10 early Wednesday to get gas somewhere near Maricopa when two pickup trucks began to follow them, Chandler police said.
Guzmán continued from I-10 to the eastbound Santan Freeway in Chandler and the trucks followed, forcing the vehicle onto the shoulder of the road shortly after they entered the Santan.
Occupants of the trucks opened fire with handguns and at least one round hit the car, police said.
Police believe the attackers forced Guzmán into one of the trucks. Another attempted to kidnap the other passengers by stealing the red car but was unsuccessful and fled. The other victims were unharmed.
"We don't know if (Department of Public Safety officers) approaching scared (the attacker) off or if there was a mechanical thing with the car," said Sgt. Rick Griner, a Chandler police spokesman.
He said the passengers are in custody with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because they are illegal immigrants. The passengers, whose names police have not yet released, were interviewed and are cooperating but are apprehensive because of their immigration status, Griner said.
"Their emotions are up," he said.
Griner said Guzmán and the passengers were on their way to California, but police have no description yet of Guzmán or the attackers and don't know the motive behind the attack.
"We don't even have enough info on the victim to enter him as missing," Griner said.
Witnesses said Guzmán has a cell phone, but Griner said police and witnesses don't know the number. "We checked with surrounding agencies to see if they received any calls on a cell phone," Griner said, but so far no success. "We were thinking he called 911 while this is happening. That's what's frustrating. We don't have enough to go on."
Police have not yet linked today's attack to three other similar but deadly attacks in the last month, which remain unsolved:
● On Feb. 8, four gunmen opened fire on a pickup truck carrying illegal immigrants, killing a 15-year-old girl and two men at 7:30 a.m. just north of Tucson.
● About 12 hours earlier on Feb. 7, 18 illegal immigrants were robbed at gunpoint by four heavily armed men wearing ski masks near the border at Sasabe.
● On Jan. 27, four gunmen wearing military fatigues and berets, carrying assault rifles, shot and killed an Eloy man, who was driving a truck carrying illegal immigrants near an Eloy farm field. The attackers, three White men who only spoke English and one Hispanic man who spoke English and broken Spanish, also shot 19-year-old Andrés de Jesús, of Oaxaca, Mexico.
None of the attacks have been linked.
In the Jan. 27 attack, detectives said the attackers could have been vigilantes, rival smugglers or criminals trying to steal drugs, although no drugs were found in the truck.
Gangs of armed bandits have been known to prey on migrants as they cross into the country. Feuding among smugglers also is common, where one group of smugglers will kidnap another's load of migrants and hold them for ransom from their families to gain their freedom.
Anyone with information about this week's case should call Chandler Police at (480) 782-4130.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/42704.php

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/n ... e2f18.html

Gunmen force immigrants' car off highway, kidnap driver

Investigators unsure if incident near Phoenix is tied to smuggling


08:32 AM CST on Thursday, February 22, 2007

Associated Press

CHANDLER, Ariz. – Armed men forced a car filled with illegal immigrants off a Phoenix-area freeway Wednesday morning and abducted one man while firing shots at others in the car, police said.


Three armed men in two pickups forced a small red sedan with six illegal immigrants off the freeway. They approached the car while firing shots, then pulled the driver out and forced him to go with them, police said. No one was shot, but at least one bullet hit the car.

One of the assailants tried to get in the red car and drive away but gave up and left with the men in the trucks, police said. Department of Public Safety officers were called to the scene, apparently by passing motorists, but arrived just after the men had left with the car's driver.

The migrants told officers the driver was named Jose Guzman and was in his 20s, but they did not know where he lived, his phone number or other information about him.

Police said investigators don't know whether Mr. Guzman was a smuggler targeted by other smugglers or whether the sedan was targeted randomly. The five passengers were turned over to federal immigration authorities.