Kidnapping suspects arrested by Austin police: affidavit

Austin police have arrested several people in connection to a series of kidnappings.

According to court documents, the suspect at the head of the violent crimes was a previously deported man trying to kill his girlfriend.

This week, APD arrested Policarpio Galvan Garcia. He is charged with Aggravated Kidnapping and Engaging in Criminal Activity. 

Police say Garcia admitted to being deported five years ago and reentering the country under the alias Antonio Rivera-Lopez.

Last Friday, police say Garcia and his accomplices kidnapped a juvenile in an effort to locate Garcia's ex-girlfriend.

According to the arrest affidavit, the suspects thought the juvenile was the son of the ex-girlfriend's sister's boyfriend.

Under threats of violence, the suspects sent the juvenile to scout a south Austin apartment unit they believed Garcia's ex was living in.

Two days later, the suspects are accused of a second kidnapping in northeast Austin.

Police say this time they interrogated a man at gunpoint who knew the targets.

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The second kidnapping victim told investigators the suspects planned to commit a mass murder and threatened to kill him unless he gave their location up.

He told officers he was pistol-whipped and beaten several times while held captive.

The victim was freed when officers pulled over the suspect's vehicle in Bell County, which was driving toward a location they believed Garcia's ex was hiding.

Police arrested Garcia and two other men.

His bond is set at $300,000.

AustinCrime and Public Safety