2 Arrested in Alleged Abduction, Beating of Day Laborer

A Stanton day laborer was back at work Monday, just two days after police said he escaped a kidnapping and beating at the hands of two brothers, who were later arrested.

William Robert Martinez, 41, of Orange and Stephen Martinez, 45, of Huntington Beach are expected to be arraigned today on charges of kidnapping, robbery, false imprisonment and brandishing a deadly weapon, said Sgt. Dave Bunetta, a spokesman for the Huntington Beach Police Department.

According to Bunetta, the brothers, who work in construction, offered Miguel Carmona, 22, a painting job Friday. They picked him up at a site on Beach Boulevard in Westminster that is frequented by men seeking work.

The men picked up Carmona again on Saturday and took him to a storage facility in the 18900 block of Gothard Street, Bunetta said. Carmona was told they had to pick up supplies for the job. Instead, Carmona was tossed into a storage unit, beaten and bound with duct tape, Bunetta said.

“The Martinez brothers had accused him of stealing some property from an earlier job,” he said.

Carmona, however, told police that he hadn’t stolen anything.

He was able to free himself and escaped, pursued by one of the brothers, who had been guarding the door.

“Since there were people around, he backed off,” Carmona said in an interview.

Carmona stopped a passerby, who made the emergency phone call at 1:06 p.m.

Police were not sure how long Carmona was held. Officers arrested the brothers at the storage facility shortly after his escape.

Police recovered a baseball bat and a handgun believed to have been used in the crime.

Officials said Carmona, a native of Mexico, sustained minor injuries in the assault. Carmona, who works six days a week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., has a 2-year-old daughter and a week-old son.

“On Friday [the brothers] treated us well. I’m not sure what went wrong,” Carmona said. “Why didn’t they call police if they thought we had stolen something? If I had robbed something, I wouldn’t have worked a second day.”