A Central Texas man has been arrested after police say he knowingly kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and threated that the cartel would sell her for sex.
Bellmead police said 23-year-old Joe Lopez went to his 26-year-old ex-girlfriend's apartment wanting to speak to her on Feb. 4. The woman told Lopez she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with him, which made him angry.
The couple had broken up after a previous physical abuse, police said.
According to an arrest affidavit, Lopez held her captive inside her own apartment. The victim could not leave or get help.
He threated to use deadly force by grabbing her by the neck from behind and strangling her, causing her to lose her breath. The victim reported that she could not breathe and she believed Lopez was going to kill her.
Victim said Lopez told her his uncle is in the cartel and that he is going to kidnap her and sell her for sex, the affidavit says.
Lopez told her there is nothing she can do to stop his uncle from hurting her or her family. He said he knows where her family lives and that he "will always be around to snatch her up."
The affidavit reports that Lopez knowingly prevented the victim's ability to place an emergency phone call. He grabbed her keys and phone out of her hands and hid them.
In an attempt to get away, the victim asked Lopez for a cigarette, when Lopez stepped outside she locked to door and was able to escape through a window.
Police said around 6 a.m., officers responded to the apartment after receiving a disturbance call.
Responding officers saw that the front door had been kicked in and that the victim's vehicle had been stolen.
Around 11:28 a.m., Waco police notified Bellmead police they located Lopez and the stolen vehicle.
He was arrested for felony kidnapping and burglary of a habitation.
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