Man walks into Sunland Park police station, tells officers he was kidnapped to be killed in Juarez
Update: New court documents reveal that when Diaz's son spoke with investigators, he was able to identify Chavez-Lujan as one of the men who beat up his dad. He referred to Chavez-Lujan as "Chuco" or "Cuco."
SUNLAND PARK, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Court documents newly obtained by ABC-7 detail an alleged kidnapping attempt in southern New Mexico.
The documents state that a group of men pulled the victim, Ramon Diaz, out of his house. The group, including the defendant named in the arrest documents, 25-year-old Canutillo resident Yulian Lopez Polanco, beat up Diaz with their hands, feet, and bolt cutters, investigators say. The alleged kidnapping was captured on video and posted on social media. Investigators used the video to identify Lopez Polanco, who later admitted "he battered and assisted in kidnapping" Diaz.
Lopez Polanco told the Sunland Park Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division that a man named Cesar Chavez-Lujan threatened and ordered him to participate in the alleged kidnapping. ABC-7 is working to get more information on Chavez-Lujan.
Court documents state the alleged kidnapping happened on April 29, 2024. That same day, Diaz's son reported his father as missing. Diaz walked into the Sunland Park Police Station later in the day to report that he had just been released from the hospital, where he was treated for rib fractures and cuts to his face and body. Investigators do not explain in their reports how Diaz escaped from his captors and made it to the hospital.
While at the police station, Diaz told officers that his alleged kidnappers put him into a car after beating him up. They reportedly planned to take him to Juarez to kill him, court documents state.
Jail records show that law enforcement officers in El Paso County picked up Lopez Polanco on a drug possession charge in May. He stayed in the El Paso Jail Annex until he was moved to the Dona Ana County Detention Facility today. Records show officials are holding him without bond. Lopez Polanco is charged with kidnapping and Aggravated Battery (May Cause Death Or Great Bodily Harm), jail records show.
