Attorney: Kidnapped woman, boyfriend did not fake story

Laura Anthony Image
ByLaura Anthony KGO logo
Friday, March 27, 2015
Attorney: Kidnapped woman, boyfriend did not fake story
Vallejo police are accusing Denise Huskins of faking her own kidnapping, with the help of her boyfriend, Aaron Quinn. But the attorneys for Quinn are fighting back, saying the police are wrong.

VALLEJO, Calif. (KGO) -- Vallejo police are accusing Denise Huskins of faking her own kidnapping, with the help of her boyfriend. But the attorneys for the boyfriend, Aaron Quinn, are fighting back, saying the police are wrong.

"We have not seen evidence yet that this was some kind of hoax," said Daniel Russo, one of the attorneys for Quinn.

Russo said he understands that there are significant pressures on the Vallejo Police Department and the FBI, but "there seems to be a stream of blatant lies coming out about our client, about the victim and about what's going on."

"He was drugged and there were at least two kidnappers. I could understand some kind of theory if they were trying to get money out of someone else, but the ransom demands were specifically to his accounts," said Russo.

Accusing Vallejo police and the FBI of mismanaging the case, Quinn's attorneys maintain that Huskins was kidnap from Quinn's home early Monday.

"He was not only bound up, he was drugged and one of the things he did voluntarily was to give a blood test so the police could confirm that the kidnappers drugged him," said Russo.

"Our client is suffering tremendously. He's very worried about Denise Huskins," added Amy Morton, another of Quinn's attorney. "They keep saying he's telling lies, he's not cooperating. He has cooperated."

Wednesday night, Vallejo police stated they had zero evidence that Huskins was actually kidnapped, and went so far as to say they believe the whole story was fabricated and that the two Vallejo residents owed police and the FBI an apology for sending them on a "wild goose chase."

Police were clear Wednesday night in the press conference -- they don't think a kidnapping occurred. They say Quinn reported Huskins' abduction from his home on Monday and that an $8,500 ransom was demanded.

She turned up safe at her mother's home in Huntington Beach on Wednesday. Police now say they thought Quinn's story was far fetched.

"The statement that Mr. Quinn provided was such an incredible story that we initially had a hard time believing it," said Lt. Kenny Park with the Vallejo police force.

"The fact that we wasted all these resources for essentially nothing is really upsetting. I can tell you in the grand scheme of things, Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins have plundered valuable resources away from our community and taken the focus away from the true victims of our community while instilling fear in our community members. So if anything, it is Mr. Quinn and Ms. Huskins that owes this community an apology."

The revelations come after an exhaustive search for the 29-year-old Huskins, who turned up unharmed Wednesday morning at her father's home in Huntington Beach.

ABC7 News spoke with Huskins' uncle, Jeff Kane, who said, "I think it is unfair they are being portrayed this way by the police department. And then now, because that aired all over the place, the court of opinion is squarely against them. If you go on the Internet, people want their heads. They think they've wasted all these public resources. But the truth is just the opposite."

Police say if the couple invented the kidnap story, they could face state or federal charges.

Bay City News contributed to this report.