A husband and wife were charged Friday with a violent kidnapping and robbery of family members in Westminster.
Michelle Rodriguez, 30, and Michael Alexander Rodriguez, 26, were both charged with four counts each of kidnapping to commit robbery, robbery, assault with a firearm and criminal threats, all felonies. They were also charged with a single count burglary and two counts of child abuse and endangerment, all felonies.
Michael Rodriguez faces sentencing enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury on the victims, and they both face sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a firearm.
Police were dispatched to the 14300 block of Pine Street, where the victims lived, about 2:35 a.m. Thursday. Officers arrived and encountered the three adult victims bleeding from head injuries, police said.
The defendants “were under the impression there was a large sum of money in the house” of the victims, according to Westminster police Commander Kevin MacCormick.
They broke into the home, where Michelle Rodriguez’s 6-month-old son and 14-year-old sister also lived, and demanded money, MacCormick said. Michael Rodriguez allegedly pistol whipped the adult victims when they failed to find the money, MacCormick said.
The couple then forced the victims, including the children, into a cargo van and drove to a hotel in Costa Mesa, where they continually threatened the victims if they did not come up with money, MacCormick said.
Somehow the three adults managed to escape without the children and obtained a cell phone to call a friend, who drove them home, where police were called, MacCormick said.
Police found the two children uninjured in the Costa Mesa hotel room.
Westminster police caught up to the suspects in their van near Goldenwest Street and Westminster Boulevard and pulled them over, police said. Police found a loaded .40-caliber handgun and AK-47-style rifle in the van, police said.
The adult victims in the crime were Michelle Rodriguez’s 22-year-old sister, her 49-year-old mother and the sister’s 22-year-old boyfriend, MacCormick said.
The defendants did not enter a plea at their arraignment Friday, which was rescheduled for Nov. 10.