A Fountain Valley man was arrested in connection with the kidnapping of a man and woman in Newport Beach, police said Friday. Two more suspects remain at large.
Kyle Shirakawa Handley, 33, is accused of helping to kidnap the pair from a Newport home and drive them out to the desert. One of the victims was brutally beaten in an effort to get his money, Newport Beach Police Lt. Jon Lewis said.
Shortly before midnight on Oct. 1, three suspects walked into a home in the 100 block of 25th Street, blindfolded and bound a man and woman, forced them into a waiting vehicle, and drove them to the Mojave Desert, where they were later abandoned, said Lewis.
"During the kidnapping, the male victim was brutally beaten in an attempt to extort money," Lewis said in a released statement.
The victims called the Kern County Sheriff’s Department from the Mojave Desert in the early morning hours of Oct. 2.
"Early in the investigation, it was determined that this was a target-specific crime and did not represent a threat to community safety [in Newport Beach]," Lewis added.
Handley was arrested around 4 a.m. on Oct. 6 and booked into the Newport Beach jail on suspicion of aggravated mayhem, according to Lewis. He remains in custody. Investigators are trying to identify the two other suspects.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call the Newport Beach Police Department at 800-550-NBPD or Detective Ryan Peters at 949-644-3779. Messages can be left anonymously.
