Kidnapped Youth Was Beaten, Indictment Says

The 17-year-old San Marino youth who was held more than two weeks in an international kidnap for ransom plot was beaten on the head with a hammer when he tried to escape from his abductors, according to a federal indictment returned Tuesday.

On the second day of his captivity, Kuan Nan “Johnny” Chen tried to flee through the front door of the ramshackle house in Temple City where he was being held.

The two men guarding Chen grabbed him before he could escape, covered his mouth to keep him from screaming, then threw him to the ground and beat him on the head with a hammer, the indictment said.

Chen was struck three times but was not seriously hurt.

From then on, he was chained to a bed by his hands and feet. His eyes and mouth were covered with duct tape, removed only during feedings.

Despite the 18-day ordeal, the young man was declared to be in good shape after FBI agents stormed the Temple City house and rescued him early on Jan. 4.

The two men allegedly guarding him, Xu Lin Wang, 27, and Xue Han Wang, 26, were charged Tuesday with hostage-taking and conspiracy. Also indicted on the same charges were the suspected ringleaders of the scheme, Xiong Zi Wang, 26, and Tian Qing Wang, 33. Both are fugitives.

Chen, whose father is a wealthy Taiwanese developer with holdings in the United States, was abducted Dec. 15 as he pulled into the driveway of the family’s home in San Marino.

Both of his parents were in Taiwan at the time of the kidnapping.

A few days later, Chen’s father received a telephone call from one of the kidnappers demanding a $1.5-million ransom to be delivered in China.

The boy’s father contacted authorities and, in what was described as a landmark case of mutual cooperation, FBI agents and their counterparts in the People’s Republic of China teamed up to catch the kidnapping suspects and rescue Chen.

Investigators from China’s Ministry of Public Security staked out the place in Fujian province where the ransom was to be delivered. The FBI, meanwhile, was able to locate the house where Chen was thought to be held.

Chinese authorities moved in when Chen’s father turned over $500,000 of the ransom. They arrested three suspects. An FBI liaison officer who was present flashed word to agents in the United States. They stormed the Temple City house, arresting the Wangs and freeing Chen.

He was taken to a hospital, examined and then reunited with his mother.

The Wangs, who are being held without bail at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center, are to be arraigned Jan. 25. If convicted, they could be sentenced to life in prison.

The three suspects arrested in China--Ming Sheng Jiang, Jie Zi Wang and Bi Xi Liu--will be tried there, where kidnapping is punishable by death.