HUNTINGTON BEACH : Man Imprisoned in Apartment; 2 Held

A Las Vegas couple were in custody Thursday after they allegedly held a man in his apartment for several hours and then ordered him to take them to a bank to withdraw money, police said.

Police said Amir Nourian, 39, knew the man and woman who entered his Huntington Beach apartment in the 1000 block of Pacific Coast Highway late Monday night.

The suspects, identified as Robert J. Torres, 29, and Kulvinder Torres, 27, who are married, had arranged with Nourian to meet at his apartment, said Huntington Beach Officer J.B. Hume.

While in the apartment, the couple allegedly brandished a handgun and held the unemployed man there until Tuesday morning, when the suspects drove him to his bank and ordered him to withdraw an unspecified amount of money, Hume said.

But there was no money in Nourian’s account, and the armed couple fled, leaving Nourian unharmed, police said.

Police investigators said Thursday that several aspects of the case were unclear, such as why the couple allegedly demanded money and why they went to Nourian’s apartment.

“There is so much conflicting information (from the victim and suspects) that we’re having a hard time getting information,” Hume said. “We don’t know if it was money owed or straight-on extortion.”

After the armed suspects left Nourian, he reported the incident to Huntington Beach police, who learned that the suspects were staying with relatives in Escondido.

Escondido police went to a house in the 100 block of East 5th Avenue and arrested the couple. Officers confiscated two handguns, an assault rifle and a pair of handcuffs from a van parked outside the home, said Escondido Police Lt. John Wilson.

The couple were being held in the Huntington Beach City Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail on suspicion of extortion and false imprisonment, Hume said.