Fourth suspect arrested in case involving torture and kidnapping of Costa Mesa jewelry store owner
A fourth suspect has been arrested in connection with the abduction, torture and robbery of a Costa Mesa jewelry store owner, police said Thursday, Feb. 13.
San Bernardino residents Cedrick Reynolds, 28, and Leonard Berry, 31, as well as Marvin Brown 35, of Diamond Bar, were each booked earlier on suspicion of crimes including kidnap for ransom, torture, robbery and battery with serious bodily injury, Costa Mesa police said in a news release. The three men allegedly abducted the owner of Diamond and Jewelry Exchange at 1808 Newport Boulevard on Dec. 4, police said.
They are suspected of forcing him into their vehicle, binding him in duct tape and torturing him over the course of several hours. The alleged kidnappers then returned to his store to rob it. They triggered an alarm on their way out, then drove to a parking lot in Santa Ana and booted the victim out of their vehicle.
A missing persons report had been filed after Costa Mesa police responded to the alarm at the store. Santa Ana police found him early on Dec. 5., and he was taken to a hospital.
Personnel from the Costa Mesa police department, as well as the Orange County and San Bernardino County sheriffs’ departments worked together to identify and arrest the suspects.
Authorties believe Berry’s wife, Veronica Berry, 25, of San Bernardino, aided the men after the abduction, police said. She was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of possession of stolen property and being an accessory to a crime.
Reynolds was arrested Wednesday, Dec. 18, police said. Berry had been taken into custody Dec. 22 on suspicion of a parole violation. He was later booked in connection with the kidnapping on Dec. 24. Both were held on $1 million bail as of Thursday, Feb. 13.
Brown was taken into custody four days after Berry’s arrest. He was ineligible for bail. All three suspects were due to appear in court March 10, and also suspected in an earlier attempted kidnapping in Yorba Linda that happened Nov. 30.