Alameda Pair Arrested in Local Kidnapping

Bay City News–A man and a woman arrested after a standoff at an Oakland hotel today (Friday) were wanted in connection with the kidnapping of an Alameda man, according to police.

Reynaldo Marte, 28, and Amanda Pearce, 21, both Alameda residents, were arrested Friday on warrants out of Alameda on suspicion of kidnapping, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.

Alameda police have been searching for the two since March 27, when Tehachapi police contacted them about an escaped kidnapping victim, Alameda police Lt. Lance Leibnitz said.

Marte, who Leibnitz described as a "parolee at large," and Pearce allegedly kidnapped the victim, a 55-year-old Alameda resident, out of his home and took him to Tehachapi, where he escaped, Leibnitz said. The victim suffered moderate head injuries.

Leibnitz did not have further details on the kidnapping Friday afternoon, but noted the victim and the suspects were all acquainted with each other.

Oakland police first encountered Pearce and Marte just before 11 a.m., when officers on patrol on the 400 block of Embarcadero spotted a car that had been reported stolen out of Alameda occupied by a man and a woman, Officer Johnna Watson said.

The man and woman both fled the vehicle when police approached, Watson said. The woman was detained, but the man ran into the Jack London Inn at 444 Embarcadero, barricading himself into one of the rooms.

Because the suspect was known to have possessed automatic weapons in the past, police treated him as armed and dangerous, Watson said. They evacuated the hotel and called in a SWAT unit, before eventually locating the suspect in a hotel room with the help of hotel patrons and other witnesses.

When he was located, the male suspect had changed into women's clothing in an apparent attempt to disguise himself, Watson noted.

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