2 charged in Alief kidnapping, robbery after victim lured through Instagram DMs
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - Two suspects have been charged for allegedly kidnapping and robbing a man back in August, according to Harris County court documents.
According to records, Samantha Aguilar and Marlon Melendez are both charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon for holding a man at gunpoint, forcing him into a vehicle, and making him to withdraw $2,000 from an ATM.
Man reportedly kidnapped, robbed in Alief
What we know:
In an affidavit, it's reported Aguilar was contacting the victim through Instagram with romantic intentions and she invited him to meet her at an apartment complex on Spice Lane in the Alief area. However, when he arrived, he realized he had been given the wrong address but found Aguilar at the other complex next-door on Wilcrest Lane.
Samantha Aguilar (L) and Marlon Melendez (R)
The victim told investigators Aguilar was texting someone as he approached and seconds later, three male suspects got out of a Chevrolet Tahoe and held him at gunpoint. Aguilar left the scene while the suspects stole his Apple watch, wallet, and car keys. Two of the suspects reportedly left to go look through his vehicle while the other stayed with him. They then attempted to send themselves money from his Apple Pay, but the victim did not have money in his account.
Court documents state the three male suspects put the victim in the Tahoe where Aguilar was sitting in the back row with another female. They took the victim to his bank ATM and forced him to withdraw $2,000. They drove back to the apartment complex and let the victim out on the street with his car keys.
According to the victim, his vehicle looked to have been ransacked and his Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses were stolen. He told investigators he was blocked by Aguilar on Instagram, but was able to find her Facebook account. In her story she allegedly posted his stolen sunglasses as for sale, records state.
Investigators were able to pull a video from Aguilar's Instagram story showing the reported robbery of the victim. In the video, they report the three masked suspects were holding him at gunpoint inside the vehicle and forcing him to put in his bank details at the ATM.
Melendez spoke to investigators and told them he lent his vehicle, the Chevrolet Tahoe, named Aguilar and two others as his co-conspirator, and claimed she set the victim up to be robbed and kidnapped, documents state. He says Aguilar recorded the incident on her cellphone.
What we don't know:
At this time, it is unclear if the other two male suspects believed to be involved in the incident have been arrested.
The Source: Information from this article was provided by court records from the Harris County District Clerk's Office.