Kidnappers abduct man and WATERBOARD him at Florida Airbnb where they pointed guns at his head and held a drill to his skin after mistaking him for strip club co-worker, cops say – 247 News Around The World

A trio of bungling gangsters kidnapped a Florida businessman and tortured him even after discovering they had the wrong man, a court has heard.

Brothers Jeffry and Jonathan Arista, together with their associate Raymond Gomez waterboarded their victim at an Airbnb in Plantation, and threatened him with a taser, a gun and an electric drill after posing as police to lure him into their car.

The victim was leaving his Fort Lauderdale home on Saturday when he was approached by one of the kidnappers wearing a police uniform complete with a ballistic vest, gun, and gold badge on his belt.

He persuaded the man to get into a white Dodge Charger with a ‘police light’ on the roof, but once inside he was hooded and had his phone thrown out the window as they set off for Plantation.

Waiting inside the Airbnb was Jeffry Arista who discovered they had mistaken their victim for his co-worker at the Booby Trap nightclub in Pompano Beach.

Jonathan Arista and Raymond Gomez posed as police officers to lure their victim into a car 

‘The Victim primarily interacted with a third kidnapper who, after removing his mask, was observed having a beard and tattoos on his face,’ FBI agent Jessie Apaza told the court.

‘The kidnappers further confirmed this when they removed the victim’s wallet from his pocket and checked his identification.

‘At this point, the kidnappers began inquiring why the coworker was using the victim’s car this past Thursday and demanded to know where the money was.

‘The money was in reference to what the coworker allegedly owed the kidnappers. The kidnappers threatened the victim by putting an electric drill to his skin and pointing firearms towards his head.’

The man told investigators he thought he was going to die as they hauled him into the apartment’s bathroom, dressed in four or five black masks and water boarded by his captors.

The trio then ‘brainstormed’ a plan to get their real target and ordered their terrified victim to message him and arrange a meeting.

When his colleague revealed he was at the club the kidnappers bundled their victim into a Porsche van and drove there before ordering him to go in and lure the colleague out.

‘Gomez claimed that the Arista brothers were in a more relaxed state once they learned of the coworker’s whereabouts and devised a plan to have the victim lure the coworker out of the business,’ Apaza said.

‘While in the parking lot of the business, Jeffry Arista directed Gomez to place a tracker on the coworker’s vehicle, which Gomez did.’

But once inside the victim told staff he had a bomb on him in a desperate bid to ensure police flooded the area.

Police seized the trio who claimed they were working for an unknown man who wanted to retrieve money allegedly owed by the victim’s colleague.

The Booby Trap nightclub in Pompeo Beach, Florida, where the victim worked alongside the kidnappers’ intended target

The Arista brothers appeared in court on Monday on kidnapping charges.

‘I gotta tell you judge, in the history of kidnappings, this would be the first time someone gets kidnapped then taken to a strip club,’ defense attorney Sam Zangeneh told the court, ‘I’ve never heard of that before.’

‘I was about to say, I think there’s a long list of husbands who have claimed exactly that in the past,’ the judge responded.

‘We’ve all been taken against our will.’

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Kidnappers abduct man and WATERBOARD him at Florida Airbnb where they pointed guns at his head and held a drill to his skin after mistaking him for strip club co-worker, cops say