Three arrested in connection with kidnapping, sexual assault of STC student
WESLACO - Police here arrested three illegal immigrants from Mexico on Friday in connection with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a South Texas College student.
Efrain Ozuna, 30, Martin Rosas, 33, and Benito Zaragoza, 22, were each charged Friday with aggravated kidnapping. Ozuna and Zaragoza are also accused of sexually assaulting the 23-year-old woman.
Wednesday's kidnapping took place about 8:15 a.m. as the student parked at the southeast parking lot of South Texas College's Mid-Valley Campus, 400 N. Border Ave., said David Molina, a spokesman with the Weslaco Police Department.
The woman told police one of the men grabbed her and forced her into their truck. They drove her to various locations and released her in a wooded area south of Donna about 8 p.m. the same day. The kidnappers covered her face with a jacket, she told police.
Molina said the men apparently took her because they thought she was wealthy and they hoped to extract a ransom from her friends and family in exchange for her return. Once they realized "she didn't have money," they sexually assaulted her and let her go.
Police found the men inside a home at the intersection of Victoria and Castillo roads in Donna after receiving tips through the department's Crime Stoppers hotline.
The Texas Department of Public Safety put up surveillance equipment at the home to help catch the suspects, Molina said. Police found a gun inside the home that was apparently used in the attack.
Molina said they also found the jacket believed to have been used to cover the victim's face.
The woman is receiving counseling through the Texas attorney general's crime victims compensation program, Molina said.
The three suspects remained at the Hidalgo County Jail as of late Friday. Each was given a $1 million bond for the kidnapping charges. Ozuna and Zaragoza each received an additional $250,000 bond for the sexual assault charges.
Typically, at least six security guards and one Weslaco police officer patrol the Mid-Valley Campus at any given hour in the day, said Paul Varville, STC's security director. Since the attack, though, officials have deployed at least three more guards to patrol the area.
