Kidnap And Robbery Suspect Nabbed

Juan Jose Estrada-Chavez held on $50,000 bail

Humboldt Sentinel
News 6/4/08
By Sentinel Staff

BLUE LAKE -- A man is in Humboldt County jail for allegedly kidnapping and robbing a woman in Blue Lake on Wednesday, May 28. Juan Jose Estrada-Chavez, 31, of Mexico is being held for $50,000 bail.

Estrada-Chavez was spotted by the 20-year-old kidnap victim leaving the Blue Lake Casino as she was being taken back to Blue Lake by a Eureka Police Dept. detective.

After Estrada-Chavez and three other people getting into a car and leaving the casino parking lot, the detective followed as deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and U.S. marshals answered his call for back-up. A countywide "be on the lookout" alert had been sent to local law enforcement agencies earlier in the day after woman told Eureka police she had been approached by a man with a handgun while she was parked in a spot near the Sequoia Park duck pond.

The woman said Estrada-Chavez got into her car, demanded her cellular phone, keys and money, then forced her to drive him to places in Manila, Trinidad, and Blue Lake before fleeing into a wooded rural area south of Blue Lake.

The woman waited a few minutes before using her spare car key to drive away, flagging down the first motorist she saw, who used their cell phone to call police.