Store Owner Absolved in Abduction

Country Store owner Rick Ryberg has been cleared of involvement in last month’s abduction and beating of a 26-year-old migrant worker outside his rural Carlsbad market, the district attorney’s office said Thursday.

Instead, Randy Alfred Ryberg, 36, who authorities said is employed in his brother’s store, and William E. Zimmerman, 30, who operates a self-contracted meat counter at the market, will be arraigned on a felony charge each of false imprisonment and of a civil rights violation, a misdemeanor, prosecutors said.

Rickard Borg, the attorney who has represented the Country Store in the case, said Rick Ryberg feels vindicated by the district attorney’s announcement.

“He’s very pleased,” Borg said of Ryberg, 37, who would not comment on Thursday’s development in light of a civil suit filed against him and his brother in the case.

“The implications of all this have just been horrible. Since this whole thing broke in the press, Rick’s been accused of being a racist, of being in favor of apartheid. . . . This is the kind of stuff he’s getting. It’s not true. And it’s hurting business.”

The alleged abduction of Candido Galloso Salas has stirred strong feelings throughout North County, where thousands of homeless migrant workers from Mexico and Central America seek day labor, sometimes coming into conflict with residents of expansive new housing projects.

The FBI is investigating the case, which has also caught the attention of Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. More than 200 demonstrators picketed the store Sunday, clashing with Ryberg supporters and neighbors who claim the migrant workers are an almost-constant nuisance and leave behind messes that have become a neighborhood eyesore. The store is on El Camino Real a few miles south of California 78.

According to a statement released by the district attorney’s office, Galloso, an undocumented worker from Mexico who regularly sought day labor in the parking lot outside Ryberg’s market, was standing about 20 yards from the store when Randy Ryberg and Zimmerman began yelling at him in English shortly after 8 a.m. Jan. 3.

Galloso, who speaks only Spanish, was then allegedly grabbed by Zimmerman and forced to the back of the store, where he was handcuffed to a railing for more than two hours, according to the statement. Later, his hands and knees were tied with duct tape, and a paper bag was fastened around his head before he was released.

At 10:53 a.m., prosecutors said, after receiving a call from an anonymous Spanish speaker who claimed a man was tied up in the store’s front parking lot, a Carlsbad police officer went to the scene.

“A responding officer found Galloso in a nearby field, trussed and with the paper bag over his head. A comic face was drawn on the bag and the words No Mas Aqui (or ‘No More Here’) were written,” the statement said.

“No charges were filed against Rick Ryberg after an extensive and exhaustive investigation by the Carlsbad police showed that Mr. Ryberg was not at the store when the abduction took place and he was not there when Mr. Galloso was released, nor was he present when the officers arrived,” said Charles Bell, deputy district attorney in the Vista office.

Both Rybergs were arrested Jan. 3 on suspicion of kidnaping and battery and were released the same day after they posted bond.

Attorney Borg has claimed that Galloso had been placed under citizen’s arrest because he was suspected of a petty theft and was being held for police.

“But our logs don’t show that we received a call from the Country Store saying that they had someone in custody for the police or anything like that,” Lt. Don Lewis said. “The only call we received was from a Spanish-speaking person who was a witness to the kidnaping.”

Records show that many burglary, shoplifting and loitering complaints had been made by Rick Ryberg concerning incidents at the store, authorities said.

Borg said that Randy Ryberg was not an employee at the store but had shown up seeking his brother’s help several months ago after losing his lease on a restaurant he had operated in San Luis Obispo.

The attorney said his primary responsibility has been to represent the Country Store and he will probably not represent Randy Ryberg after his arraignment Feb. 15.

Bill Zimmerman, who operates the independent Truman’s Meats inside the store, said Thursday he was not aware of the charges filed against him.

“It’s a new one on me,” he said. “I don’t know anything about it.”

Lewis said investigators contacted Zimmerman before the charges were filed and he will also be arraigned Feb. 15.