Break-In, Kidnapping Bungled; 2 Arrested

Two armed men wearing masks invaded a home early Monday in a vain search for jewelry and money, but ended up abducting five people at gunpoint, police said.

Officers arrested David Najati Nash and Jeffrey Sabini, both 28 and from Anaheim, after the release of three of the victims, who promptly called authorities, according to Westminster Police Lt. Rick Main.

The incident began about 4 a.m., when two men broke into the house in the 5500 block of Edita Avenue looking for a resident they thought had recently bought a diamond ring for his girlfriend, Main said.

One suspect apparently knew the ring’s owner, whom police did not identify.

“It seems as though they wanted the ring and money from the person they were looking for,” Main said.

The perpetrators, one carrying a handgun and the other a pipe, confronted two of the residents and a friend who was staying with them, but the person they sought was gone.

Soon, two visitors arrived at the house and the suspects took all five people hostage, forcing them inside a van belonging to one of the victims and then searching for the ring’s owner.

For undetermined reasons, the captors dropped off three of the victims at Bolsa Chica Road and they contacted police, who broadcast a description of the stolen van.

An officer later spotted the vehicle near University Avenue and Vallecito Drive, where he arrested the suspects and allegedly found the two remaining captives in the back of the van. None of the victims were harmed.

Nash and Sabini were arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, auto theft and attempted robbery. Both remained Monday at Orange County Jail, where Nash was being held $50,000 bail and Sabini was on a parole hold without bail.