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Lodi girl one of four kidnapped, then later released unharmed
By Layla Bohm
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Updated: Wednesday, August 8, 2007 6:51 AM PDTNews-Sentinel Staff Writer
An 18-year-old Lodi girl was one of several people kidnapped and ultimately released unharmed Monday night in what authorities believe was a case involving the breakup of a relationship.
The incident began on Cole Drive in Morada, when Richard Alexander Cantu, 23, went to a home there, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department. The Lodi girl was there visiting her 18-year-old boyfriend, whose sister had recently broken up with Cantu.
Cantu allegedly held them at gunpoint, ordering the couple to get into his silver Ford F-250 truck. He forced the boy to drive to the girl's house on Rockingham Circle in Lodi, where they then got into the boy's 1994 Lexus, according to a Sheriff's report.
Cantu ordered the boy to drive to a Union 76 gas station in Clements for gas, then back to Lodi to a Bradford Circle home where one of the Lodi girl's friends lived. Cantu reportedly threatened the boy's life and ordered the girl to go in the house and get a cell phone.
The girl did so, but managed to tell her friend that something was wrong before she left, according to Lodi police, who were called.
In the meantime, Cantu forced the boy to drive to a coffee shop in Clements. Still holding a gun, he ordered the girl to text message the boy's 19-year-old sister, Cantu's ex-girlfriend, saying that her brother was in trouble and that she was to meet them alone.
She did so, but had a 20-year-old man drive her, meeting them in a driveway at Highway 88 and Liberty Road. When they arrived, Cantu allegedly kidnapped both his ex-girlfriend and the man, forcing both into the man's gray 1992 Jeep, deputies said. The Lodi girl and her boyfriend were then left behind.
Cantu made his former girlfriend drive, at one point stopping near a vineyard at North Alpine Road and Bella Vina Way, where she convinced Cantu to throw a Walter 22-caliber handgun from the vehicle, according to the Sheriff's report.
They kept driving until they came across California Highway Patrol officers on Highway 12, who took Cantu into custody.
The loaded handgun was later recovered, and Cantu was jailed on more than $500,000 bail.
Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.
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Ok, just use names for goodness sake... wrote on Aug 8, 2007 9:17 AM:
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