14, 2008 - 4:30PM
Mesa kidnapping resembles Latin American style
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Ilse Inzunza, For the Tribune
The attack came fast and happened in broad daylight. Two kidnappers in a Chevrolet Tahoe pulled into the Albertson’s grocery store parking lot near Stapley and University drives in Mesa and began hitting and kicking a man as he walked to his car, police said.

The attackers then forced the victim into his car at gunpoint, and both vehicles drove away about noon Wednesday.

Witnesses saw little else, and police on Thursday were still searching for all three men.

Mesa police detective Diana Tapia said investigators have no evidence that Wednesday’s abduction has any connection with the human smuggling industry that brings illegal immigrants to Arizona — along with large amounts of cash. But the incident resembles numerous cases across the Valley that Phoenix police have described as Latin America-style kidnappings.

These abductors typically go after fellow criminals known to deal in cash — people with the resources to pay large ransoms.

The attacks often occur in public places such as parking lots and target families who are reluctant to cooperate with police because they are either illegal immigrants or involved in other criminal enterprises.

Tapia said Wednesday’s victim has not been associated with any criminal activity, and Mesa police have not categorized the crime as a Latin America-style kidnapping.

But Phoenix police spokesman Sgt. Joel Tranter said such cases are “more than a weekly occurrence in Phoenix.â€