Police Respond To Kidnapping Call, See Victim & Leave Without Rescuing Him

Colorado police are under investigation after they failed to rescue a kidnapping victim despite seeing him being held captive.

The disturbing incident unfolded on November 4th when 40-year-old William Holland, 34-year-old Brandon Sharp, and three other men stormed the home of 25-year-old Jose Salguero-Martinez in Aurora, claiming to be bounty hunters arresting him on an outstanding ICE warrant. Holland uploaded some of the captures onto Instagram. However, the men were not bounty hunters, nor were they affiliated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They were actually abductores who took Martinez to a Best Western hotel and demanded that his family pay $1,500 or else they would hand the man over to ICE officials. Martinez’s aunt provided the money, but when the kidnappers demanded another $5,000, the family realized that they were being extorted and called Denver Police.

When Denver officers responded to the hotel room, the kidnappers produced fraudulent paperwork that appeared to be official ICE warrants. The police witnessed Martinez in the room but left the premises and told the aunt she also had to go after she arrived on the scene. Once they were gone, the kidnappers moved Martinez to a Radisson hotel in Aurora. The family then called Aurora police, who spoke with ICE and confirmed that there was no warrant issued for the man, nor were the kidnappers employed by them. Aurora police then responded and freed Martinez, who was found chained inside the hotel room.

Denver police maintain that the documents produced by the kidnappers appeared legitimate and that they “did not see anything suspicious.” Martinez later told investigators that the men argued about what to do with him once his family did not pay the additional money. One suspect suggested that they kill Martinez, though the kidnappers have denied these claims.

John Fabbricatore, the Denver Field Office Director for ICE, says that the agency does not use bounty hunters in its immigration bond process.

Bianey Bermudez, an activist with the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, says abductions such as these are not uncommon amongst undocumented citizens. They are often too afraid to go to the police because they are fearful of being deported.

“This is a direct result of that, of how people are being exploited,” Bermudez stated.

Sharp and Holland are now facing first and second-degree kidnapping charges. At the time of his arrest, Holland already had six other pending criminal cases, one of which stemmed from impersonating a police officer. Authorities are still looking for the other three suspects who participated in the kidnapping.