Insets, clockwise from top left: Saul Fajardo, Justin Phihoang Le, Amari Hill, Weilen Hernandez, Marikevies McNichols, Anthony Hernandez (Broward County Jail). Background: Margaritaville resort in Hollywood, Fla. (Google Maps).
Six men allegedly kidnapped a man at a Florida Margaritaville, tried to burn off his tattoo with a blowtorch and threatened to kill him and his family.
Saul Fajardo, 19, Justin Phihoang Le, 20, Amari Hill, 21, Anthony Hernandez, 18, Marikevies McNichols, 19 and Weilen Hernandez, 20, are charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
The incident occurred on May 26 and 27 and began at the Margaritaville resort in Hollywood, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. A witness told federal investigators that Fajardo lured the victim to the resort to smoke marijuana.
The witness and victim walked with Fajardo to his car on the fourth floor of the resort”s parking lot. While they were in the car, another vehicle pulled up and four masked men with guns allegedly emerged. The victim said he recognized Le, Hill and McNichols as the suspects.
Hill allegedly pointed the gun at the victim and slammed him on the hood of Fajardo’s car. Fajardo allegedly exclaimed, “Chill, not on my car.” Hill then began pistol-whipping the victim and forced him back into Fajardo’s car, feds said. The suspects also allegedly forced a second victim into another car.
Le, still armed, allegedly told the first victim, “If you try to get out, I’m going to end your life.” Le also said, “I am going to kill you and your family,” per the complaint.
Fajardo drove the victim out of the Margaritaville parking lot with Le and Hill in the back while the other suspects followed in the other car. They drove for 25 to 30 minutes.
While en route, Le allegedly demanded the victim call people and ask for money.
“If I don’t get my money, every 10 minutes I’m going to take one of your fingernails,” Le said, according to federal investigators.
A pair of pliers was inside the car, making the victim believe the kidnappers were going to follow through on the threat.
Once they arrived at the location, which was an empty parking lot near a grassy area, the suspects allegedly forced the victim out of the car and ordered him on his knees. The other car arrived and the second victim also was forced on his knees, according to feds. Both victims were allegedly forced to strip down to their underwear.
Hill then exposed a racing flags tattoo on the first victim. Le allegedly pulled out a blowtorch and began burning the tattoo.
“I’m gonna burn the tattoo off of you,” Le is accused of saying. “You don’t deserve to have it. I’m going to torture you. I will kill your family if you go to the police. We are not done.”
At one point, Hill fired a shot in the air while demanding money from someone on the phone.
The suspects then realized the second victim had an ankle monitor. Apparently fearing they could be tracked, they let him go, feds said.
Fearing for his life, the first victim began faking a seizure, the complaint said. The suspects began to panic and threw the victim into one of the cars. Hill checked the victim’s pulse several times. After driving for about 10 minutes, the suspects tossed him on the side of the road, per feds. The victim “played dead” until the kidnappers drove away.
He walked to a residential neighborhood where he saw two people walking and asked them to call 911. The victim suffered several injuries, including a laceration on the back of the head from the pistol-whipping that required staples and a burn on his right arm from the blowtorch.
The victim identified the suspects and cops arrested them. All six are in the Broward County Jail without bond. They are slated to appear in court on Monday.
