A Connecticut man has been sentenced to life in prison after kidnapping and terrorizing a woman and four children, who were rescued in Collier County.
Antonio Caban, 36, was arrested in January 2023 after he took control of the woman’s car, threatened to kill her and the children, bit her in the face and hit her with a tire iron.
The suspect demanded that she reunite with him and when she refused, Caban took her car keys, wallet and phone. He got into the driver’s seat of her car and said he was going to “destroy the vehicle and kill everyone,” according to an arrest report.
When the woman tried to exit the car to get help, he hit her and bit her left cheek.
An eyewitness attempted to help the victim and prevent Caban from leaving before police arrived, but Caban continued driving despite the woman’s continued refusal to go with him.
Caban eventually stopped in a rural area and told the woman and two of the children to exit the vehicle. He told her that he would kill the two children that remained in the car if she did not heed his orders, the arrest report says.
Caban then struck her multiple times with a tire iron. He then ordered everyone back into the car under threats of death.
While driving, Caban said he was going to buy a shovel at Home Depot to kill them all. He then buried the woman’s phone in a citrus field so that it couldn’t be tracked, deputies said.
Eventually, the woman convinced him that she’d go with him and tricked him into driving her back to the women’s shelter in Immokalee where she was staying, under false pretense of retrieving personal belongings.
Entering the shelter by herself, the victim reported to shelter staff what had occurred, prompting the shelter to call 911.
The four children gave consistent statements about the incident, reporting Caban’s threats.
The shelter manager attested to the fresh bruises on the woman’s body.
Caban was charged and found guilty of three counts of kidnapping with intent to inflict harm and two counts of assault with intentional threat of violence.
He is to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Man sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping, terrorizing woman and four children
Reporting by Tayeba Hussein, Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
