A 33-year-old woman pleaded guilty Monday and was immediately sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison for her role in a violent kidnapping and robbery involving family members in Westminster.
Michelle Rodriguez pleaded guilty to four counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, a count of burglary, two counts of child abuse and endangerment, and four counts of criminal threats, all felonies. Multiple felony counts of kidnapping to commit robbery and robbery along with sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a gun were dismissed as part of the plea deal.
Rodriguez was given credit for 1,382 days behind bars.
Her husband, co-defendant Michael Alexander Rodriguez, 29, was next due in court March 6 for a hearing to consider whether he is mentally healthy enough to assist in his defense.
Officers responded about 2:35 a.m. Oct. 27, 2022, to a home in the 14300 block of Pine Street, where officers found three adult victims suffering head injuries, police said.
The defendants “were under the impression there was a large sum of money in the house” of the victims, Westminster police Commander Kevin MacCormick said when the suspects were arrested.
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.
The three adult victims eventually escaped without the children, obtained a phone and contacted a friend, who drove them home before police were called, MacCormick said.
Officers later located the two children uninjured in a 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. Officers found a loaded .40-caliber handgun and AK-47-style rifle in the van, police said.
The adult victims were identified by police as Rodriguez’s 22-year-old sister, her 49-year-old mother and the sister’s 22-year-old boyfriend, MacCormick said.