El Paso bank employee kidnapped, used as human shield, police say

Update (October 24, 2025): According to court documents newly obtained by ABC-7, Luis Colomo, the man charged with the aggravated kidnapping of a GECU employee, proclaimed that he would kill his captive.

Court documents state that on October 21, 2025, Colomo entered the GECU on Dyer and told the victim, an employee at the branch, that he was being chased by two armed men who wanted to kill him.

"If you don't care about me, I don't care about you either," Colomo is alleged to have said before suddenly grabbing the back of the victim's jacket. That is according to court documents.

Also according to court documents, the victim reported seeing Colomo's hand in a small bag. The victim told investigators he believed at the time that Colomo had a weapon.

Court documents state that Colomo then had the victim walk to his office to call the police. While they were in the office, court documents allege that Colomo said he would kill the victim.

"You guys think this is a joke I'm going to kill him," witnesses reported hearing Colomo say.

Before the victim could call 911, court documents report that Colomo changed his mind, threw the office phone, then led the victim outside.

When the victim asked Colomo why he was leading him outside, court documents state that Colomo said he would use the victim as a shield.

"I'm going to use you as a shield if the police or the guys looking for me try to do anything to me," court documents quote Colomo as saying.

According to court documents, Colomo then led the victim to a side street. Investigators say the victim was pleading to be let go along the way. On the side street, court documents state that the victim was able to wriggle out of his jacket. Investigators say this caused Colomo to trip and run away. Police say they found him soon after.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- An El Paso man who was released on a personal recognizance bond was rearrested eight days later.

El Paso Police arrested Luis Fernando Colomo, 26, and charged him with aggravated kidnapping (use as a shield/hostage) on Tuesday. Ten days before this happened, Colomo was arrested on a warrant for assaulting a security office at the Sun Metro Bus Terminal on Dyer. Colomo was released on a personal recognizance bond two days later.

On Tuesday, eight days after Colomo was released on the PR bond, investigators say he entered the GECU on Dyer Street and started "acting nervously and later claimed to an employee that armed men were following him."

Colomo then grabbed the employee, implied he had a weapon, and forced him to walk outside. He told the employee that he planned to use him as a "shield." The employee was eventually able to run away.

Officers found Colomo walking nearby soon after. They booked him into jail on a $75,000 bond.

There is a statewide proposition on the ballot this November concerning bail. The proposed constitutional amendment would require judges to deny bail in certain cases for those accused of felonies such as murder, aggravated assault, and indecency with a child. Proposition 3 is up for a vote as the issue of PR bonds and other bail practices make headlines across Texas and the nation.