FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – A bizarre kidnapping scenario unfolded in Florida as three men, including two siblings, mistakenly seized the wrong man and later sought his cooperation in their malevolent endeavors.
On a seemingly regular morning on October 13, a resident of Fort Lauderdale was confronted by three men masquerading as law enforcement. He was taken from his home’s parking area and forced into a vehicle designed to look like a police cruiser. The abductors, Jeffry Arista, Jonathan Arista, and Raymond Gomez, found themselves in a bind when they realized their victim was not the individual they sought.
While many would assume that professional criminals would meticulously plan such an act, the trio’s actions were strikingly inept. This event brought to mind the slapstick antics of the ‘Keystone Cops’, mentioned by Pat Diaz, a retired investigator.
After discarding their victim’s mobile phone, they later handed him a new one in hopes of reaching their true target. The captive man was held in a temporary abode in Plantation, Florida, enduring psychological and physical torture.
However, the tables turned when the abducted man managed to sound an alarm and summon the police during a trip to Pompano Beach. While the events that followed saw Gomez briefly evading law enforcement, he was eventually apprehended as he tried to cover his tracks.
Upon the arrival of law enforcement, Jeffry was caught on-site, while Jonathan faced arrest following a minor vehicular mishap. Subsequent interrogations revealed that the brothers were unwilling participants, having been coerced into the plot a mere few days earlier.