Battery Allegeed in Deprogramming Abduction Case

Three people who said they were knocked to the ground when they tried to keep a friend from being abducted in a deprogramming effort two weeks ago filed a battery complaint Wednesday against their alleged assailants.

The complaint stems from an incident April 20 when Dina Geerlings, 37, was forced into a car in a parking lot by three men near where she works in Clairemont Mesa as a clothes designer.

San Diego police say Geerlings’ family has told them they have successfully deprogrammed her from her allegiance to a Bible study group that they claim is a cult.

But Detective David Morris said Wednesday that, although he has talked to a woman by telephone whom he believes to be Geerlings, he has not yet talked to her face to face. Geerlings, according to Morris, said she does not want to press kidnaping charges against her abductors and is now in seclusion out of the state.

Hopes for Meeting

Morris said he hopes to meet early next week with the woman to confirm her position.

But, on Wednesday, three members of Great Among the Nations, that they describe as a fundamental Bible study and evangelism ministry, took their own offensive. In a misdemeanor complaint filed with police, they and a witness alleged they suffered sprains and abrasions when they tried to intervene in Geerlings’ abduction.

The three--Melva Davenport, Camilla Vieux and Terri Hill--along with a fourth member, Theresa Maynard, who said she witnessed the confrontation, said in the complaint that they ran toward the vehicle where three men were trying to force Geerlings inside.

“They said three big guys pushed them away and knocked a couple of them on the ground, pushing them back so they wouldn’t interfere with the rescue attempt,” said Morris.

He said their complaint would be forwarded to the San Diego city attorney’s office for possible prosecution.

The women’s complaint identified only one alleged assailant: Joe Elichaa, the brother of Geerlings. The other two men were described to Morris as “6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, big arms and big, husky shoulders,” he said.

“It’s a misdemeanor, and we can’t make an arrest if it’s not committed in our presence,” Morris said. He said it is up to the city attorney on whether to purse the matter.

Talked to Father

Morris said he has not talked to Joe Elichaa about the abduction, but has talked to Geerlings’ father, David Elichaa. “He wouldn’t admit to any involvement in the snatching,” Morris said. “He said he wanted it done, but he didn’t want to incriminate himself, I’m sure. He has assured me she was OK.”

Morris said that, in his conversation with the woman claiming to be Geerlings, “She said she didn’t want to talk too much. She just wanted to be left alone. She didn’t sound like she was being forced into telling me these things.

“I don’t know how you feel when you come out of something like that, like a light switch popping. She said she doesn’t want to be bothered by anybody. She only called me so I wouldn’t arrest her family.”

Geerling’s abduction is the second in a year involving the group. Last year, member Ginger Brown was taken. Her parents and sister along with two other people are scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing Monday in Vista Municipal Court. Brown, who was released four days after her abduction and returned to the group, will be the chief prosecution witness against the five.The prosecutor in that case said he is concerned about the handling of the Geerlings’ investigation.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gary Rempel said that, since Geerlings hasn’t been seen yet by police, a full two weeks after her abduction, “I have to assume she’s being brainwashed, and that it’s an ongoing process, since she still hasn’t had a face-to-face contact with the investigator.

Similar Voice

“Members of the ministry have told me Dina Geerlings has a sister with a similar voice, and there’s no way to authenticate the person who called the detective is the same person who was abducted,” Rempel said Wednesday.

“I have concern for her well-being,” he said.

Benjamin Altschul, leader of the Coronado-based Great Among the Nations, said Wednesday he has not talked to Geerlings since the abduction. “My conclusion is that she is still drugged or shocked, and that if she personally spoke to the authorities, she would cry out and say she was being held against her will. We don’t know where she is,” he said.

Retrieved Belongings

Altschul said David Elichaa has picked up Geerlings’ personal belongings from the group’s apartments in La Jolla “and, according to him, she will never see us again.

“He has a lot in stake with how this turns out,” Altschul said of Elichaa. “If they do not succeed in keeping her, then they would likely go to jail for kidnaping.

“I would not be surprised if one day she shows up here again,” Altschul said. “She may decide to do different things with her life, but I have a hard time believing she is so afraid of us she cannot still call and say hello to us.”