Chicagoan guilty of kidnapping man in Toledo

5/15/2004

One of three Chicagoans accused in the abduction of an Ottawa County man at his girlfriend's house in Toledo was convicted yesterday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court.

Adrian Andrade, 21, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and was found guilty by Judge Charles Wittenberg. Andrade will be sentenced June 10.

Andrade, Jorge Cervantes, and Jesse Tijerina, who was then 17 years old, were arrested on Jan. 13 after a 10-minute chase that ended when their van crashed into a guardrail on I-75 near Buck Road in Rossford.

Edibert Garcia, 43, was abducted at gunpoint by three men after he pulled into a driveway in the 2200 block of North Michigan Street.

The victim was threatened before he was put into the van, where he was struck with a gun.

Police followed the suspects' van through North and East Toledo and onto southbound I-75. Two of the suspects jumped from the vehicle before it veered driverless into the median. Prosecutors said the victim was abducted because he owed money to someone they knew.

Mr. Tijerina, who was certified to stand trial as an adult, is charged with kidnapping. Mr. Cervantes is charged with kidnapping and failure to comply with the signal of a police officer.