Westminster couple, teenager and 6-month-old kidnapped, held captive in Costa Mesa hotel

A couple kidnapped at gunpoint from their home in Westminster, along with their 14-year-old daughter and 6-month old baby, managed to escape from the Costa Motel where they were held captive and call police, who then rescued the children and arrested two suspects on Thursday.

Robbers forced their way into a residence on the 14300 block of Pine Street and demanded cash from the two adults, Westminster police said in a news release. The victims were pistol-whipped when they said they had no money, then they and their children were loaded into a cargo van and taken to a hotel in Costa Mesa.

Police stopped this cargo van and found two people suspected of kidnapping a family in Westminster and holding them captive in Costa Mesa, along with a handgun and rifle early Thursday, Oct. 27.

(Courtesy of the Westminster Police Department)

The couple was able to escape but did not manage to take their children with them. Police responding to their home at 2:37 a.m. Thursday found both of them bleeding from head injuries.

The teenager and baby were later found uninjured at the hotel room. Meanwhile, Westminster police spotted the cargo van described by the victims in the area of Goldenwest Street and Westminster Boulevard, and arrested the two people inside. A rifle and handgun were also in the vehicle.

This handgun was found Thursday, Oct. 27, in a cargo van, police say, along with two people suspected of kidnapping a family in Westminster and then holding them at gunpoint in a hotel in Costa Mesa.

(Courtesy of the Westminster Police Department)

The suspects were identified as Michael Alexander Rodriguez, 26, of Garden Grove, and Bich Dao Vo, also known as Michelle Rodriguez, 30, of Westminster, police said. They were booked on suspicion of kidnapping, assault, robbery, false imprisonment, child endangerment and being felons in possession of guns. Vo was related to the victims, but authorities did not go into detail about how they knew each other.

Rodriguez and Vo remained in custody as of Monday. They were both scheduled to make a court appearance at the Lamoreux Justice Center on Tuesday.

Michael Alexander Rodriguez, 26, of Garden Grove, left, and Bich Dao Vo, also known as Michelle Rodriguez, 30, of Westminster, were arrested Thursday on suspicion of kidnapping a family and holding them captive in a Costa Mesa Hotel.

(Courtesy of the Westminster Police Department)

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