A Miami woman has been accused of setting up an elaborate plot to extort a ransom from her ex-husband. Alejandra Arriaza, 39, went to Wal-Mart with her 17-year-old son to purchase an iPhone. Arriaza deliberately left her car doors unlocked so that the kidnapping ploy could begin.
While they were inside the store, Arriaza's boyfriend, Angel Ponce, 39, snuck into the backseat of the car. He wore a mask to cover his face. When Arriaza and her son returned to the vehicle, Ponce pretended to be kidnapping the pair, brandishing a fake weapon. Ponce covered the teen's eyes with tape.
As part of the scheme, Ponce gave Arriaza driving directions, taking them to his mobile home in Miami. There, the teenaged son was bound to a chair. Arriaza, Ponce, and Arriaza's 29-year-old nephew, Joel Boza, left her son tied up inside the closet for the entire night.
Ponce purchased two cell phones before they launched the fake kidnapping. He kept one and hid the other inside the truck belonging to the boy's father, Arriaza's ex-husband. They then made contact by the father by calling him on that cell phone. The father, in turn, contacted police, who recorded the phone conversations.
On the phone, Arriaza implored her former husband to pay the captors their
ransom, stating that they were burning their son with a blow torch. In fact, they singed the hair off his leg with it, but did not actually injure him. Meanwhile, Miami law enforcement officials were tracking the other phone, which eventually led them to Ponce's trailer.
Ponce was arrested and confessed to the scheme, implicating Arriaza. The boy was not in on the scheme. He told police that he and Arriaza had hoped to extort funds from the ex-husband, who had recently sold his business at a profit. Now, Ponce, Arriaza, and Boza all face kidnapping charges in federal court. The charges carry a maximum of a life sentence.
The original report is available here.
While they were inside the store, Arriaza's boyfriend, Angel Ponce, 39, snuck into the backseat of the car. He wore a mask to cover his face. When Arriaza and her son returned to the vehicle, Ponce pretended to be kidnapping the pair, brandishing a fake weapon. Ponce covered the teen's eyes with tape.
As part of the scheme, Ponce gave Arriaza driving directions, taking them to his mobile home in Miami. There, the teenaged son was bound to a chair. Arriaza, Ponce, and Arriaza's 29-year-old nephew, Joel Boza, left her son tied up inside the closet for the entire night.
Ponce purchased two cell phones before they launched the fake kidnapping. He kept one and hid the other inside the truck belonging to the boy's father, Arriaza's ex-husband. They then made contact by the father by calling him on that cell phone. The father, in turn, contacted police, who recorded the phone conversations.
On the phone, Arriaza implored her former husband to pay the captors their
ransom, stating that they were burning their son with a blow torch. In fact, they singed the hair off his leg with it, but did not actually injure him. Meanwhile, Miami law enforcement officials were tracking the other phone, which eventually led them to Ponce's trailer.
Ponce was arrested and confessed to the scheme, implicating Arriaza. The boy was not in on the scheme. He told police that he and Arriaza had hoped to extort funds from the ex-husband, who had recently sold his business at a profit. Now, Ponce, Arriaza, and Boza all face kidnapping charges in federal court. The charges carry a maximum of a life sentence.
The original report is available here.
