3 illegal immigrants from Guatemala accused of Florida kidnapping, sexual assault on woman abducted by park
Three illegal immigrants from Guatemala were charged in Florida with kidnapping a woman in their pick-up truck near a park and sexually assaulting her twice before she managed to escape.
The arrests of Marcos Felipe Ramirez, 31, Darniel Ordónez Jimenez, 30, and Andres Felipe Morales, 29, prompted Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw to torch the federal government under the Biden administration for putting "the American people in jeopardy" during a fiery press conference on Wednesday announcing the charges against the trio.
Ramirez, Jimenez and Morales were "apprehended for a series of heinous charges including sexual battery, false imprisonment, conspiracy to commit sexual battery, and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment," the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office wrote on X on Tuesday, sharing their booking photos. "The incident took place in Lake Worth, on March 11th. Thankfully, the brave victim escaped and got help, leading to their capture. Anyone with information, please call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS."
"Don’t think for a minute that what happens at the Mexican border doesn’t affect us here. Here you have three illegals that should have never been in this country that have committed a very serious crime. Kidnapping and sexual battery of a lady. They shouldn’t be here. This is the same thing we saw where the student was killed by the person that was here illegally," Bradshaw told reporters, seeming to reference slain Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was killed while running on the University of Georgia's campus.
Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally and was paroled into the interior, was charged with Riley's murder.
"For them to be in this country, for them to be able to commit these types of crimes is unconscionable," Bradshaw said, asserting that the three suspects in this case likely crossed through the U.S.-Mexico land border – not by sea because Palm Beach County dedicates resources to stop and document maritime migration.
"The federal government has put the American people in jeopardy. Our intelligence section, who works very closely with the FBI, has also identified that the most dangerous gangs in the world are now in Miami from Venezuela. They make MS-13 look like school kids. They’re not going to stay just in Miami," the sheriff said.
The three men, all from Guatemala and residing in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, were accused of abducting a woman at 1 a.m. Monday in a residential area in the 5000 block of Lake Osborne Drive, near John Prince Park, just west of Interstate 95, and sexually assaulting her at two locations before she managed to flag down another driver on the road and escape.
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According to court documents, the woman was walking to a gas station on Second Avenue when she encountered the trio, WPTV reported. A man she described as her "rapist" and later identified as Morales was driving the truck. The woman told law enforcement she was sexually assaulted the first time across the street from a food market next to the gas station on Melaleuca Lane and Congress Avenue. She claimed she was sexually assaulted by two others outside the pick-up, including one who was allegedly recording the incident.
A redacted arrest report obtained by WPTV said the woman told investigators she was sexually assaulted a second time on Lake Osborne Drive next to the lake.
She flagged down a driver after managing to distance herself from the pick-up truck and went to Wellington Regional Medical Center, the report said.
Law enforcement tracked down a vehicle matching the description. Three men were inside the truck, and the woman later identified the trio.
"Forget about the three million people who came across the border, put their hands to Border Patrol and say, ‘I give up.’ You know they get the cell phone and the gift cards and all that kind of garbage. What about the 1.5 million people that they call gotaways? Those are the people that don’t want to go to get caught by Border Patrol because they’re cartel, they’re gang members, they’re wanted?" Bradshaw said. "What is happening at the Mexican border is going to affect us. I have been in law enforcement for 52 years and this is the worst I have seen it."
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Morales is charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment, while Ramirez and Jimenez are being held on two counts of felony criminal conspiracy. The three men were arrested and booked into the Palm Beach County jail around 7 p.m. Monday. Bond was set at $200,000 each at their first court appearance Tuesday, WPTV reported. Their next court date is April 10.