Santa Rosa man kidnapped at gunpoint, held for ransom

SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- A Santa Rosa man was kidnapped at gunpoint from the front yard of his home and held for ransom this week, according to police.

Police learned of the kidnapping around 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday, when a caller reported a 25-year-old man was taken from a residence in the 1700 block of Guerneville Road.

The man was abducted by a man with a handgun from his front yard in front of his wife and two small children, and forced into a pick-up truck, police said.

The family then received calls demanding money in return for the man's release.

The victim was able to escape from his captors in the Modesto area, where he had been placed in the trunk of another car.

He escaped unharmed. A short time later Stanislaus County sheriff's deputies stopped a stolen vehicle leaving the area where he had been found and arrested two suspects, Jorge Emanuel Martinez, 26, of Turlock and Miguel Baeza Arevalo, 20, of Modesto.

A third suspect, the man who originally kidnapped the victim at gunpoint, remains at large, police said this evening.

The kidnapping is thought to be related to marijuana cultivation and sales, but the exact relationship between the victim and the suspects remains under investigation, police said.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call police at (707) 543-3590.