Vista CA— While holding a perimeter post during a search for a robbery suspect on an unrelated incident, a deputy heard what he quickly determined was a traffic collision on the street behind him. He observed both vehicles involved in the collision a gray van and a red van flee the scene at a high rate of speed.
The deputy broadcast what he believed was a hit-and run. Other deputies were able to locate both vehicles and attempted to perform traffic stops. Both vehicles failed to yield. A short pursuit ensued which ended in the 1500 block of Foothill Drive.
A high-risk vehicle stop was initiated on both vehicles. Four subjects were detained from the red van and one subject was detained from the gray van. During the course of the investigation, it was learned that what had looked like a hit-and-run was actually a vehicle chase that stemmed from a kidnapping that had occurred only minutes earlier from the Twelve Tribes Community Church.
The gray van was pursuing the red van, in which the victim (a 23-year-old male) was being held by three suspects. All three suspects were related to the victim and believed that the victim was being “brainwashed” by the Twelve Tribes Community and intended to rescue him.
The three suspects arrested for kidnapping were: Andres Martinez-Manso, 51, Eliza Martinez, 25, and Robert Harry Matthew, 25. The investigation is ongoing.