Man Holds Wife of Ex-Boss Hostage, Then Surrenders

A man described as a onetime employee of a dental-equipment manufacturer broke into his former boss’ home Friday afternoon and held the man’s wife hostage for a $10,000 ransom, but surrendered to a SWAT team that surrounded the house, sheriff’s deputies reported.

Jet Collado, 30, was arrested on suspicion of kidnaping and extortion, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Capt. Jeff Springs.

The bizarre series of events began at about 5:15 p.m., deputies said, when Collado allegedly entered the home of Gary and Roberta Engel in the 24500 block of Ebelden Avenue, while Gary Engel was at work.

Brandishing a pistol, Collado demanded that Roberta Engel, 45, telephone her husband and ask him to come home right away because she had been injured, Springs said.

When Gary Engel, co-owner of Dolphin Imaging Systems Inc., arrived home, he “was told to secure $10,000 for the release of his wife,” Springs said. Engel, 46, was told not to contact police and that “others would be watching him,” Springs said.

Engel withdrew the money from the nearby First Interstate Bank branch, “but he also notified bank employees of his predicament,” Springs said. They notified the Santa Clarita sheriff’s station. Deputies met Engel at the bank and surrounded the house.

At about 8 p.m., Collado called 911 and told sheriff’s deputies that he wanted to surrender. After talking with the department’s crisis negotiators, Springs said, Collado tossed an air gun out the front door and emerged with his hands up.

Roberta Engel was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital with minor cuts to her hands and knees, sheriff’s officials said. It was unclear how she received the injuries.

Collado worked at Dolphin Imaging, which manufactures dental imaging machines, for two to three years but quit about six weeks ago, deputies said.

Deputies searching the house called in the bomb squad to examine a suspicious-looking device. It was not a bomb, they said.