San Rafael man poses as FBI agent, kidnaps another man, demands ransom
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San Rafael man poses as FBI agent, kidnaps another man, demands ransom
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../22/CAPTOR.TMP
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0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush
Why is it some people just can't comprehend working for a living?
Originally Posted by SFGate.com
A 40-year-old San Rafael man's Sunday morning coffee run with his girlfriend turned into a terrifying ride when a man posing as an FBI agent signaled him to stop, locked him in handcuffs, whisked him away and then demanded a ransom for his release, police said.
The ordeal ended nearly two hours later, when the phony agent crashed his fake patrol car and -- 3 miles away -- a woman called 911 to report that a man, bloodied and wearing a single handcuff, had rung her doorbell seeking help.
Before 6 a.m., the couple bought coffee at a 7-Eleven store on Medway Road. They had noticed what appeared to be an unmarked police car in the area but thought little of it, said San Rafael police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher.
As they headed home along nearby Canal Street, a cream-colored Lincoln Town Car pulled in behind. It was brand new and looked like the Ford Crown Victorias police use. A light flashed, and they pulled over, Rohrbacher said.
David Charles Moon, 26, also a San Rafael resident, emerged in a crisp coat, tie and knit cap emblazoned with "FBI," Rohrbacher said.
Moon asked the couple to step out of their vehicle and with little explanation slapped handcuffs on the victim, sat him in the front passenger seat of the Town Car and drove off.
Police have not released the couple's names.
The girlfriend went home and received a call within minutes. It was her boyfriend, telling her to gather $5,000 cash for "bail" and deliver it to a Home Depot on nearby Shoreline Parkway off Francisco Boulevard East.
"Needless to say," Rohrbacher said, "that's not how we do business. That didn't sound right to her, so she called 911."
By then, it was 6:18 a.m.
While police were on their way to the couple's apartment to hear her story and get a description of the Town Car, the victim called her at least twice more.
Moon was no longer claiming to be a law enforcement officer, and he was demanding ransom, the victim told his girlfriend. Speaking to the victim in both English and Spanish, Moon now wanted $15,000, Rohrbacher said. The victim speaks mainly Spanish, while Moon speaks mainly English, Rohrbacher added.
When the Town Car pulled into Home Depot's parking lot at 6:37 a.m., San Rafael police Sgt. Ralph Pata was waiting in an unmarked car. He spotted the victim waving his arms.
But Moon also spotted Pata, and the Town Car sped away, Rohrbacher said. It merged onto northbound Highway 101 with Pata in pursuit.
When the sergeant phoned in Moon's license plate number, police discovered the Town Car had been leased two weeks earlier from Dollar Rent A Car under Moon's name.
Backup units mobilized to help Pata and to visit Moon's home in the Terra Linda area of San Rafael.
Things became violent inside the Town Car. Moon struck his passenger repeatedly in the face with the handheld spotlight he had used to pull him over, Rohrbacher said. When Moon took the Central San Rafael exit, Pata lost track of him.
Moon finally stopped and parked on a nonresidential portion of Point San Pedro Road along the bay, said Rohrbacher. When he got out and started emptying his trunk, his captive assumed he was about to be tossed into it.
"What the plan was after that, we don't know," she said.
When Moon opened the passenger door and unlocked the handcuff that had tethered the victim to the car's interior, the victim punched him in the face and ran, Rohrbacher said.
Moon got back in the car and gave chase, but the victim hid behind a parked car until the coast was clear.
At 7:30 a.m., Officer Alex Holm spotted the Town Car downtown on Fourth Street and radioed in, reporting there was only one person inside, Rohrbacher said. On the run again, this time with Holm in pursuit, Moon turned right on Grand Avenue and then left onto Francisco Boulevard East, the frontage road on the east side of Highway 101.
But the Town Car scraped along the concrete guardrail on the right side of the road. Bouncing back across two lanes, it plowed into a city light standard and damaged two FJ Cruiser SUVs at a Toyota dealership behind it.
Moon, suffering minor injuries, crawled out of the totaled Town Car and surrendered, Rohrbacher said.
Two minutes later, a resident of the Bayside Acres neighborhood near Point San Pedro Road, 3 miles east, called 911 on behalf of a handcuff-wearing man bleeding from head wounds who had rung her doorbell.
With the situation resolved, Rohrbacher said, Moon was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, impersonating a police officer and other charges. His bail was set at $1 million, and he faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
San Rafael police are looking into whether Moon pulled anyone else over posing as an agent.
"It's certainly very possible," Rohrbacher said.
Of Sunday's victim, she said, "He was obviously very, very frightened. Good for him, he saw his one opportunity to escape, and he took it."
The ordeal ended nearly two hours later, when the phony agent crashed his fake patrol car and -- 3 miles away -- a woman called 911 to report that a man, bloodied and wearing a single handcuff, had rung her doorbell seeking help.
Before 6 a.m., the couple bought coffee at a 7-Eleven store on Medway Road. They had noticed what appeared to be an unmarked police car in the area but thought little of it, said San Rafael police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher.
As they headed home along nearby Canal Street, a cream-colored Lincoln Town Car pulled in behind. It was brand new and looked like the Ford Crown Victorias police use. A light flashed, and they pulled over, Rohrbacher said.
David Charles Moon, 26, also a San Rafael resident, emerged in a crisp coat, tie and knit cap emblazoned with "FBI," Rohrbacher said.
Moon asked the couple to step out of their vehicle and with little explanation slapped handcuffs on the victim, sat him in the front passenger seat of the Town Car and drove off.
Police have not released the couple's names.
The girlfriend went home and received a call within minutes. It was her boyfriend, telling her to gather $5,000 cash for "bail" and deliver it to a Home Depot on nearby Shoreline Parkway off Francisco Boulevard East.
"Needless to say," Rohrbacher said, "that's not how we do business. That didn't sound right to her, so she called 911."
By then, it was 6:18 a.m.
While police were on their way to the couple's apartment to hear her story and get a description of the Town Car, the victim called her at least twice more.
Moon was no longer claiming to be a law enforcement officer, and he was demanding ransom, the victim told his girlfriend. Speaking to the victim in both English and Spanish, Moon now wanted $15,000, Rohrbacher said. The victim speaks mainly Spanish, while Moon speaks mainly English, Rohrbacher added.
When the Town Car pulled into Home Depot's parking lot at 6:37 a.m., San Rafael police Sgt. Ralph Pata was waiting in an unmarked car. He spotted the victim waving his arms.
But Moon also spotted Pata, and the Town Car sped away, Rohrbacher said. It merged onto northbound Highway 101 with Pata in pursuit.
When the sergeant phoned in Moon's license plate number, police discovered the Town Car had been leased two weeks earlier from Dollar Rent A Car under Moon's name.
Backup units mobilized to help Pata and to visit Moon's home in the Terra Linda area of San Rafael.
Things became violent inside the Town Car. Moon struck his passenger repeatedly in the face with the handheld spotlight he had used to pull him over, Rohrbacher said. When Moon took the Central San Rafael exit, Pata lost track of him.
Moon finally stopped and parked on a nonresidential portion of Point San Pedro Road along the bay, said Rohrbacher. When he got out and started emptying his trunk, his captive assumed he was about to be tossed into it.
"What the plan was after that, we don't know," she said.
When Moon opened the passenger door and unlocked the handcuff that had tethered the victim to the car's interior, the victim punched him in the face and ran, Rohrbacher said.
Moon got back in the car and gave chase, but the victim hid behind a parked car until the coast was clear.
At 7:30 a.m., Officer Alex Holm spotted the Town Car downtown on Fourth Street and radioed in, reporting there was only one person inside, Rohrbacher said. On the run again, this time with Holm in pursuit, Moon turned right on Grand Avenue and then left onto Francisco Boulevard East, the frontage road on the east side of Highway 101.
But the Town Car scraped along the concrete guardrail on the right side of the road. Bouncing back across two lanes, it plowed into a city light standard and damaged two FJ Cruiser SUVs at a Toyota dealership behind it.
Moon, suffering minor injuries, crawled out of the totaled Town Car and surrendered, Rohrbacher said.
Two minutes later, a resident of the Bayside Acres neighborhood near Point San Pedro Road, 3 miles east, called 911 on behalf of a handcuff-wearing man bleeding from head wounds who had rung her doorbell.
With the situation resolved, Rohrbacher said, Moon was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, impersonating a police officer and other charges. His bail was set at $1 million, and he faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
San Rafael police are looking into whether Moon pulled anyone else over posing as an agent.
"It's certainly very possible," Rohrbacher said.
Of Sunday's victim, she said, "He was obviously very, very frightened. Good for him, he saw his one opportunity to escape, and he took it."
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush
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