“Pretty much told, ‘Hey, we’re going to kill you if you don’t do what we tell you. We want you to fix these things around the house.’ Out of fear of the unknown and of what’s going to happen to him…”
~Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jose Cardoza
This is a crazy story. Apparently – this handyman completed work for a customer, but that customer wasn’t pleased with the level of work. He was never paid in full for the work; two months later that customer’s relative calls the handyman offering to pay him in full along with doing some other jobs at his house. Once at their home - Jason DeJesus, 36, and Chanelle Troedson, 33 – beat him and then forced him to fix their dishwasher and other appliances for 6 hours or they’d kill him. After he completed the work at that house – they forced him into their truck to fix the appliances at the DeJesus’s relative’s home.
On the way to the 2nd house – they stopped at a gas station and left the handyman alone to pump gas while they shopped for snacks. The handyman found an opportunity to escape and he did; he immediately contacted the authorities. The police immediately showed up to the Chevron station in question and the two were arrested. They have both been charged with kidnapping during a carjacking, kidnapping to commit robbery, battery and assault.
ABC has the story HERE:
“Until the police showed up, they pointed the gun in the window, and said, ‘I’m going to shoot you in the face’ and that’s when I just kind of recommended to the guy, ‘Hey, it would probably be a good idea if you did what the man said,’” said Rodney Torres, the gas station clerk.
The handyman had called 911 from Eric Hedrick’s nearby home. The man didn’t want his face on camera.
“A blond-haired gentleman came to my door, knocked on the door frantically asking if he could use my phone. Apparently, he said he’d been kidnapped and beaten and I could visibly see he had some injuries,” said Hedrick.
That neighbor said the handyman had blood on the side of his face. Even though authorities say there was no gun or knife involved, the suspects were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and false imprisonment. The suspects are currently in the Santa Clara County jail.
Apparently – it never occurred to these two geniuses that the handyman might be able to ID them and tell the police where they lived.
