- A senior couple were assaulted at their Parker Canyon
Lake home Wednesday and then kidnapped by two illegal border crossers,
who forced them to drive and pick up other crossers, authorities said.
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- The ordeal ended when the woman alerted a passing U.S.
Border Patrol agent by flashing her truck lights and slowing down.
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- Border Patrol spokesman Al Fresquez said illegal border
crossers attacking U.S. residents is uncommon.
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- Thefts and break-ins committed by border crossers occur
fairly regularly, but a kidnapping or assault happens maybe once or twice
a year, he said.
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- Cochise County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Carol
Capas said two illegal entrants went to the couple's home at about 8 a.m.
asking for water and offered to do yardwork in exchange for lunch.
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- The couple, each 73, agreed and a short time later the
wife heard a noise and went outside, where one of the men grabbed her and
taped her mouth, Capas said.
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- The woman broke free and the man demanded the keys to
the couple's truck. The woman refused to give up the keys until she saw
her husband, she said.
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- The husband was held on the ground by the other man and
was bleeding, Capas said.
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- The couple were forced to get into the truck after the
woman told the two men her husband needed medical care.
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- One man got into the cab with the couple and the other
rode in the back of the 1995 GMC truck.
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- The men forced the couple to drive to a nearby RV park,
where they picked up five other illegal border crossers.
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- While the woman was driving to Sonoita from Parker Canyon
Lake, about 70 miles southeast of Tucson on Arizona 83, she saw a Border
Patrol agent and blinked the truck's lights.
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- As the agent began following the truck, the woman flashed
the brake lights to draw attention.
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- When the truck stopped, the illegal entrant in the cab
ran away. Authorities were unable to find him, Capas said.
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- The second border crosser in the bed of the truck was
arrested. Ricardo Paredes Vargas, 20, of Mexico City was identified as
the one who assaulted the husband, Capas said. He was arrested on charges
of aggravated assault, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
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- The five other undocumented immigrants in the bed of
the truck were taken into Border Patrol custody and returned to Mexico.
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- The man who was assaulted was treated for abrasions and
cuts and released, Capas said.
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- Contact reporter Eric Swedlund at 629-9412 or swedlund@azstarnet.com
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- http://www.azstarnet.com/border/20913PARKERCANYONASSAULT.html
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