Laguna Hills : 3 Held on Kidnaping and Robbery Charges

Three Laguna Hills men were arrested Tuesday in connection with the kidnaping and robbery of a teen-ager.

The suspects, Gorgonio Acosta and Martin Velasco, both 21, and Rosendo Velasco, 28, were being held in Orange County Jail in the Monday night kidnaping and robbery of a 17-year-old boy, who was abducted near a local video arcade, Sheriff’s Department officials said.

The victim, whose name was being withheld because he is a juvenile, told officers that he and some friends were playing games at a video arcade at Ridge Route Drive and Muirlands Boulevard when he went for some change about 9 p.m., Sheriff’s Department Lt. Bob Rivas said.

Three men “just saw him, went over and grabbed him and pulled him over to a vehicle and forced him in,” Rivas alleged.

The suspects took the boy’s $40 and drove him around the south Orange County area for about 45 minutes, striking him several times in the face, Rivas said. When they stopped the car and threatened to throw the youth into a ditch, he managed to run away.

The three men were arrested after the teen-ager provided investigators with a description of the suspects’ car, Rivas said. Authorities were looking for a fourth man in connection with the incident but would not elaborate.