After a man was kidnapped from his Agua Fria home, one person is wanted on warrants related to the kidnapping, one was released, one is being held without bail, prosecutors are seeking to hold another person, from Chimayó, without bail, and one more was arrested over the weekend.
According to a lengthy investigation by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office, Ivan Arellano was kidnapped July 24 from his home in Agua Fria at gunpoint, hit in the head with a pistol, taken to a house where he was interrogated about a stolen motorcycle, hit in the head with a nightstick, then forced to try to steal the motorcycle, which was stolen out of Los Alamos.
Four people were initially charged on July 29 while a fifth, Stephen Moya of Chimayó, was charged later on Aug. 18. Prosecutors are seeking to have him held without bail. Moya, 42, is charged with kidnapping, aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, false imprisonment, felon in possession of a firearm, conspiracy to commit unlawful taking of a vehicle and assault with intent to commit a violent felony.
Of those charged, four have been arrested and one is wanted on an arrest warrant.
Katherine Ramirez, 40, known by the alias “Phat Kat,” is being held without bail following a preliminary and detention hearing on Aug. 22. She allegedly hit Arellano in the head with a nightstick, shot at him as he tried to flee her house after he was taken there and forced him, with others, to try and steal the motorcycle. She is charged with two counts of kidnapping and one count each of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and armed robbery.
The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced on Aug. 22 on Facebook, the judge’s decision to hold Ramirez without bail, but the court record only shows that the detention/preliminary hearing was held.
Amanda Gurule, 38, of Santa Fe, is charged with kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon, unlawful taking of a vehicle and armed robbery. She is Ramirez’s girlfriend. She was arrested on July 31 and released on her personal recognizance on Aug. 4 by Santa Fe Magistrate Judge David Segura. Prosecutors did not seek to have her held without bail as a danger to the community.
William Vasquez, 40, of Española and Oakland, California, appears to have been arrested on Aug. 22. He was wanted on a warrant for kidnapping, aggravated burglary with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, false imprisonment, felon in possession of a firearm, unlawful taking of a vehicle and two counts of assault with intent to commit a violent felony.
His arrest appeared in Santa Fe County Detention Center records, but had not appeared in the court record.
Vasquez was separately wanted on a statewide warrant for allegedly absconding from his probation after walking away from a drug treatment program, following a guilty plea for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon on Nov. 20, 2024 for shooting a man in the leg in 2023. In that case, he faces a potential 15-year sentence. He has been wanted on the absconder warrant since January.
In court documents, witnesses identified Vasquez by the nickname “Pato.”
David Chavez, 39, of Agua Fria, is wanted on a warrant for kidnapping.
The kidnapping case
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jonathan Jaramillo outlined the case in a 16-page affidavit for an arrest warrant.
Arrellano told Jaramillo, and an officer who took his initial report, that on July 24, a woman staying at his house opened the door in the morning to someone knocking. Vasquez barged in and pointed a .45-caliber pistol at Arellano’s face and demanded to know about the motorcycle stolen from Los Alamos, and hit him in the face with the gun after accusing him of “playing dumb,” Jaramillo wrote.
Another man came into the house with Vasquez, whom he described as having red spiky hair. Vasquez and a man he didn’t know then forced him at gunpoint into a white Fiat. Inside the Fiat were two women, one of whom he identified as Gurule. They then drove him to Ramirez’s house in Agua Fria. Ramirez got out and demanded to know where the motorcycle was. Chavez also came out of the house, asking what was going on, Jaramillo wrote.
When Arellano said he didn’t have a motorcycle, Ramirez hit him in the head with a nightstick three times. He tried to run but Vasquez tripped him and shoved him to the ground and threatened to kill him if he moved. Ramirez went back into the house, then came out with a shotgun, which she pointed at Arellano as he laid on his back on the ground. Vasquez then searched his pockets and took a vape pen, his car keys, a necklace, a wallet, two $5 bills, his Iphone and his Lakers jersey, Jaramillo wrote.
Vasquez then gave Arellano’s keys to Gurule and told her to get his car. They forced him into a red truck with Chavez, and headed to the house a person named Victor in Santa Fe, he wrote.
“There, Ivan states William and (Chavez) forced Ivan to help steal a green motorcycle,” Jaramillo wrote. “Ivan reports as they attempted the theft, two unknown males exited the home and chased after them. Ivan reports that William and Ivan fled in the red truck, leaving DC with the motorcycle.”
Back at Ramirez’s house, Arellano’s friend and another man were at the outer gate, yelling for them to release him. While Ramirez and the others were distracted, Arellano and another person ran to the truck, started it and fled the property. As they fled, Vasquez and another man shot at them, he wrote.
One witness identified Vasquez as the person who broke into Arellano’s house and said he had recently appeared, with his mugshot, in the Rio Grande SUN, after he allegedly absconded his probation.
Another witness, Estrella Urquidi, told Jaramillo that two days later, a woman came to the house, asking for Arellano. She refused to let her in and the woman claimed that her friend found Arellano’s wallet, phone and jersey on the side of the road in Pojoaque, and he should call to get them back. When he did, it sounded like Vasquez picked up, and it appeared he was down the street in a brown Lexus, Jaramillo wrote.
Another deputy recovered the stolen motorcycle from the side of the road and found it appeared to have been hot-wired and its battery was gone. After checking the VIN number, officers found it was reported stolen out of Los Alamos. Neighbors in Santa Fe told deputies that one of the people they saw taking it told them it was stolen and someone had shot at them.
The day of the incident, Chavez was arrested on outstanding municipal court warrants out of Santa Fe, and then released. He is now wanted on a warrant for kidnapping.
Moya’s involvement
Moya was identified by Arellano later, through a photo line-up, as being one of the people “involved in his abduction from his home” and he implicated Moya “In alleged criminal acts committed during the incident,” Jaramillo wrote.
A detention and preliminary hearing for Moya is set for Sept. 3.