El Cajon
A businessman suspected of kidnaping a 26-year-old woman and later making ransom calls to her parents pleaded innocent Tuesday.
J.C. Aler, 55, of San Diego, is charged with abducting Sarah Zien a week ago.
Aler’s attorney, Peter Hughes, asked that San Diego Municipal Judge Gale Kaneshiro set a bail review and a preliminary hearing date for Tuesday.
Sarah Zien attended the arraignment. She told police she was held overnight in an apartment and handcuffed to a toilet. Zien said she persuaded her abductor to take her to a drugstore in El Cajon to refill a prescription she needed.
Aler and his wife are family friends of Zien’s parents, Jim and Lois Zien.
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