Kidnapped ride-share driver forced to take man from Texas to Florida, federal prosecutors say
Antonio Planas and Madelyn Urabe
August 23, 2024 at 2:41 AM
A Texas man kidnapped a ride-share driver at gunpoint and forced the motorist to travel more than 1,000 miles to South Florida, federal authorities said.
The harrowing ordeal occurred Friday night when Miguel Alejandro Pastran Hernandez, 23, requested that a ride-share service pick him up at a closed gas station near Arlington, Texas, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement Thursday.
At the pick-up site, "Pastran Hernandez pulled out a gun and the victim heard a round being chambered in the firearm," federal prosecutors said.
"Pastran Hernandez threatened to tie up and put the driver in the back of the vehicle," the statement said. "Pastran Hernandez then ordered the victim to drive to Florida, through multiple states."
The victim drove until Saturday morning, when, as they passed through Louisiana, Pastran Hernandez made the driver call their children to say they were on a long work trip, according to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint.
Around that time, Pastran Hernandez also noticed the driver had a 9 mm gun in the vehicle, which Pastran Hernandez took, the complaint said.
Pastran Hernandez and the driver arrived in Florida on Saturday night, and on Sunday, they drove to Miami Beach where, Pastran Hernandez saw a potential second victim, the complaint said.
Pastran Hernandez ordered the driver to go to a store in Hialeah on Monday to buy supplies for a second kidnapping for ransom, prosecutors said.
While at the store, the driver escaped from Pastran Hernandez, who was later arrested and found with a bag with a loaded gun in it, prosecutors said.
Pastran Hernandez intended to kidnap a second person and hold that person for $3 million ransom, the complaint said.
Pastran Hernandez appeared in federal court Tuesday on charges of kidnapping, carjacking and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a violent crime. He was ordered detained, prosecutors said.
Pastran Hernandez's public defender did not respond to a request for comment Thursday night.
His pretrial detention hearing is scheduled for Monday. An arraignment hearing is set for Sept. 3, prosecutors said.
A drive from Arlington to Hialeah is more than 1,300 miles.