Then she was threatened at gunpoint.
And she is 23 years old, and pregnant.
And it may all have been over some bond money that a local bail bonds office was worried about losing, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office noted. Two of the suspects own a local bails bond office, and had bonded the victim’s boyfriend out of jail.
On Sunday, Osceola County Sheriff’s deputies arrested three men and charged them with kidnapping and false imprisonment.
Soom Amphavanna, 41, of 153 Magic Landings Blvd. in Kissimmee; Leann Ottuso, 60, of 2113 Congress Lane in St. Cloud; and Joseph Ottuso, 44, of 461 Boxwood Court in Kissimmee, were also charged with use of a firearm during a felony, and Leann Ottuso was also charged with aggravated battery for striking the victim, who the sheriff’s office said endured a terrifying night at their hands.
The suspects, the sheriff’s office noted, had pretended to be “arresting” the victim.
All three were booked into the Osceola County Jail.
On Sunday, Osceola deputies received a call to respond to 5271 Images Circle in Kissimmee, where the 23 year old pregnant victim told them she was at her apartment when the three suspects showed up. The victim knew them, deputies noted.
Deputies noted that the Ottusos own Ace Pilot Bail Bonds, a business at 192nd Street in Kissimmee. The bail bonds office recently bonded out the victim’s boyfriend, Pierre Tyvon Evans. That fact played a significant role in this case, since Evans had recently missed a court appearance on a legal matter after the Ottusos had bonded him out.
The three suspects asked the victim if they could talk to her away from the apartment, noted Twis Lizasuain, public information officer for the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, in her report on the arrests.
“So she followed them to their pickup truck,” Lizasuain said, adding that this was when the night turned terrifying for the victim.
“She was put in handcuffs and Leann indicated to her she was under arrest,” Lizasuain noted. “The victim thought they wanted to speak with her to find out where Evans was because he had missed a court appearance.”
Still claiming they had arrested the victim, the three suspects forced her at gunpoint into their truck and drove her to the intersection of Polynesian Isle Boulevard and State Road 535 in Kissimmee. They apparently had time for a meal while taking the victim into “custody.”
“The Ottusos went into a pizza restaurant and left the victim with Amphavanna in the truck,” Lizasuain noted. “They returned a few minutes later and took her around various parts of Kissimmee. The suspects threatened to arrest her and have the Department of Children and Families take her children if she did not help them find Evans.”
Hours later, deputies noted, the suspects finally returned the young woman to her apartment complex, where she called the sheriff’s office.
Deputies did a search of the area and were able to locate the suspects, then brought them in for questioning.
”They cooperated with the investigation and based on their statements and the victim’s information, they were arrested,” Lizasuain said.
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