A New York City woman was apprehended by authorities on Tuesday after it was alleged that she lured a man on Instagram with a date, kidnapped him, tortured him, and demanded a $100K ransom from the victim’s brother.
According to NBC News, 21-year-old Valerie Rosario kidnapped an unidentified 24-year-old man on Feb.7 after getting him to enter a Bronx apartment. When the man came in, two other men with weapons were waiting for him and knocked him out. The three allegedly then undressed the man, put him in the apartment’s bathtub, and covered him with a flammable liquid as they tortured him by lighting sparks near him and stabbing him repeatedly with a knife.
As per the police complaint, the victim’s brother reportedly received a FaceTime call with the two men in masks surrounding him in the tub. “Give us $100,000 or we will kill him,” the brother was reportedly told by the kidnappers. One of the suspects, Javier Vargas, was arrested the same day after cops found him in Queens with a knife in his van. The victim was later found with tape covering his face, but he was taken to a hospital and in stable condition.
The other suspect, Michael Candelario, and Rosario were both booked shortly after and charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault, kidnapping, and unlawful imprisonment along with Vargas.
The suspects made court appearances last week and Rosario’s lawyer asserted that all claims against her are false. The other two suspects also remain in custody.
