Thread: NJ: Mex. maid kidnaps Guat. illegal, holds her for ransom

The "Mexican housekeeper" from Bernardsville, NJ kidnaps a Guatemalan illegal alien and holds her for ransom money b/c she owes an extra $500 for the smuggling trip's last leg ......the kidnapper's son claims the Mexican housekeeper is just a good samaritan


Woman arraigned in alleged abduction
Housekeeper drove Guatemalan to N.Y.
Friday, July 18, 2008
BY RALPH R. ORTEGA
Star-Ledger Staff

A Mexican housekeeper appeared in court yesterday, accused of being the driver who whisked a Guatemalan woman away from Bernardsville to New York, after her boyfriend refused to pay an extra $500 for the last leg of her journey to the United States earlier this month.

The tiny, confused-looking Petra Rodriguez, 40, tilted her head as she listened -- through a Spanish interpreter -- to Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Parenti charge her with first-degree kidnapping yesterday during the arraignment in Superior Court in Somerville.

Rodriguez shook her head in disapproval, and spoke only once, to accept the court's offer to contact the Mexican Consulate for assistance.

"She's a mother of four children, she's an independent woman, and she would never do anything like this," said her son Freddy Rodriguez, in a telephone interview from the family's home in Brooklyn, after he was unable to attend the arraignment.

Sheriff's officers led Petra Rodriguez back to the Somerset County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bail for the alleged kidnapping of 20-year-old Pavlina Diaz-Escobar.

Police accused Rodriguez of driving Diaz-Escobar away in a sport utility vehicle to New York, after her boyfriend wouldn't pay another $500 for her trip from Guatemala to Bernardsville on July 8.

Diaz-Escobar was located unharmed in Manhattan within 12 hours of the alleged kidnapping, authorities said.

Walter Marroquin, Rodriguez's boyfriend, had dropped the woman off at a designated meeting place where detectives were waiting, and insisted he knew nothing about a kidnapping.

Rodriguez was later arrested in Brooklyn, and held there until she waived extradition and was returned to Somerset County on Wednesday, according to county Prosecutor Wayne J. Forrest.

Marroquin and Rodriguez's son have told The Star-Ledger that the housekeeper was merely a good Samaritan who tried to help Diaz-Escobar after she, speaking only Spanish, claimed she was stranded at a South Jersey rest stop.

They claimed Petra Rodriguez was returning from a trip to Maryland, and offered to drive Diaz-Escobar, as long as she contributed gas money.

"I know what the story looks like. I know it looks bad, but that girl came voluntarily," said Freddy Rodriguez yesterday. "The lady was stranded and my mother helped."

The son said his mother was in the United States legally, and that she was estranged from his father. She has three other children, all girls, ages 2, 10, and 21, according to the son. He said he worried for the youngest without his mother around.

"She keeps crying every night because she misses mom," said the son.

He said the family cannot afford the current bail amount, and was hopeful a judge will grant a reduction to bring his mother home. She is expected to use a public defender.

The woman faces up to 20 years in state prison and a $200,000 fine if convicted. Her son insisted repeatedly yesterday that investigators were wrong to charge his mother with kidnapping.

"She would never do something like that," he said. "For what, $400 or $500? Especially in New York, and in the U.S., you'd never get away with it."

Ralph R. Ortega may be reached at rortega@starledger.com or (973) 951-3816.

The mexican woman was set up so the illegal alien can claim a U visa, I'd bet. Smugglers don't wait to get you to the East Coast before demanding more money, it's usually collected in the southwest.

If the woman truly kidnapped her, why would she use her OWN (traceable) cell phone to call the illegal alien's relative? They use throwaway cell phones!

The illegal must be deported.