Man Kidnapped From Austin, TX, Self-Storage Facility, Then Robbed

A man was kidnapped from a self-storage facility in Austin, Texas, last month, held captive for about three hours, robbed of cash and later robbed of possessions from his home. According to police, Jacob Vasquez, 31, approached the victim on Feb. 25 at 12:30 a.m. outside Ben White Mini Storage at 405 E. Ben White Blvd. and asked him for a cigarette. When the victim said he didn’t smoke, Vasquez told the man he had a gun and forced him to leave the property, visiting ATM machines where he was made to withdraw cash.

March 17, 2016

2 Min Read
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A man was kidnapped from a self-storage facility in Austin, Texas, last month, held captive for about three hours, robbed of cash and later robbed of possessions from his home. According to police, Jacob Vasquez, 31, approached the victim on Feb. 25 at 12:30 a.m. outside Ben White Mini Storage at 405 E. Ben White Blvd. and asked him for a cigarette. When the victim said he didn’t smoke, Vasquez told the man he had a gun and forced him to leave the property, visiting ATM machines where he was made to withdraw cash.

The pair first went to a nearby convenience store to withdraw $800, according to the source. The victim told investigators a police officer was in the store while he withdrew the money, but Vasquez told him that if he said anything, he would kill the victim, the officer and the store clerk.

Vasquez then forced the victim to return to the storage facility where they met up with a woman, later identified as Priscilla Lynn Garcia, who appeared to be living in a storage unit. The trio got into a cab, drove to a nearby Walmart, and the victim was asked to withdraw more money from an ATM. The group then traveled to the victim’s home in South Austin where the alleged kidnappers stole electronics including cellphones, laptops and printers before calling another cab and leaving, the source reported.

Surveillance video from the stores support the victim’s story, investigators told the source. The victim claims he wasn’t harmed and never saw a gun. He said Vasquez reached inside his jacket and said several times he would kill him if he tried to alert police or escape.

Two days after the alleged kidnapping, Vasquez reportedly approached two men in a Walmart parking lot, flashed a gun held in his waistband, and forced them to drive him around, police said.

Vasquez has been charged with aggravated kidnapping for the Feb. 25 incident and aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon for the second crime.

Sources:

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