FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – Three men from Florida are facing accusations of a botched abduction attempt that took a curious twist. They mistakenly abducted an individual from Fort Lauderdale, subjected him to torment, and later sought his assistance upon realizing their error.
The incident began around 7:30 a.m. on October 13, when the unsuspecting victim was taken from a parking garage outside his residence. The abductors, impersonating officers, forced him into a car resembling a police vehicle. The trio consisted of two brothers, Jeffry Arista, 32, and Jonathan Arista, 29, alongside Raymond Gomez.
The scheme unraveled when the perpetrators discovered that the man they had taken was not their intended target. However, instead of releasing him, they attempted to leverage the situation by using him to get to their actual target. Sources suggest that the real target may have been a coworker of the man they had abducted. The kidnappers, seemingly amateurish in their approach, were even noted to resemble the blundering nature of the comedic ‘Keystone Cops’, according to Pat Diaz, a retired detective familiar with similar criminal activities.
In a surprising twist, after discarding the victim’s phone, the abductors later provided him with a replacement to establish contact with the person they actually intended to kidnap. During this time, they held the man captive in a rented house in Plantation, Florida, where they subjected him to various forms of torture.
The victim, seizing an opportunity during a trip to a business in Pompano Beach, managed to alert the intended target and initiate a bomb threat, resulting in immediate police action. In the ensuing chaos, while Gomez managed to momentarily evade capture, he was later arrested at the rental property, believed to be trying to eliminate evidence.
Upon police intervention, Jeffry was detained at the scene, with his brother Jonathan being apprehended after a brief car chase. Jonathan later revealed to authorities that they had been forcibly drawn into the abduction plot just a few days prior.