Plea deal in attempted kidnapping

Two Menlo Park men pleaded guilty after they reportedly grabbed a woman leaving a downtown Mountain View nightclub last year, brandished guns when people tried to intervene, and fired two rounds out of a vehicle as they drove away.

A judge is expected later this month to sentence Guillermo Perez-Sanchez, 30, to 12 years in state prison and Walter Ramirez-Martinez, 20, to nine years and four months in state prison on charges of assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm and false imprisonment.

Perez is also accused of discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner.

Mountain View police arrested the two men in April 2018 following reports that they had attempted to kidnap a woman on the 200 block of Castro Street and, when confronted, drew a firearm. As they left the parking lot in a blue Infiniti G35, one of the men fired two rounds out of the window, according to the police report.

Shortly after, police officers found the car traveling up Moffett Boulevard and confronted the suspects in a driveway at 845 Central Ave., arresting the men and recovering two guns from the vehicle after a tense armed standoff, according to court documents.

The victim told police that she had come alone to the city’s downtown parking lot behind the 200 block of Castro Street and went to the Monte Carlo nightclub. She had returned to her car around 2 a.m. on April 14 to retrieve her wallet when she was approached by men in a vehicle.

She said the men began catcalling her, asking her where she was going and asking her to come with them. One of the two men, Perez-Sanchez, then grabbed her arm and pulled her about 10 feet toward the car, according to the witness statement to police.

The victim said her friends intervened and an argument ensued, and the two men returned to their vehicle. She said she saw Ramirez-Martinez loading a handgun and Perez-Sanchez pulling out a “long gun” while yelling “She is coming with us.”

The long gun was later determined to be a short-barreled shotgun 16 inches in length, which is illegal in California. The other gun recovered by police was a Smith and Wessen 357-caliber revolver, which appeared to have been used twice – consistent with witness reports that two shots were fired.

One witness account stated that one of the two men had pointed the gun so that the barrel had pressed against the witness’ stomach, according to police reports.

An account from the police officer who stopped the vehicle on Central Avenue stated that he had to conduct the high-risk traffic stop alone while other officers were en route, and that the suspects, reportedly armed, did not initially comply with his commands. Perez-Sanchez held up his hands as directed but lowered them again after five seconds and, when asked, refused to lie down on the ground.

Later, four officers arrived, two of whom were armed with AR-15 assault rifles, and issued commands in both Spanish and English. Perez-Sanchez and Ramirez-Martinez were eventually detained and arrested, and were booked into Santa Clara County jail, where they remain in custody.

In an interview with police, Ramirez-Martinez said he had purchased the shotgun and revolver off of Craigslist a few months prior, claiming it was for protection against people who had killed his brother in El Salvador. He said he planned to ditch the guns, in part because he had a child on the way, and that he put the weapons in the vehicle the day before the incident, intending to somehow get rid of them.

Ramirez-Martinez said he and his roommate, Perez-Sanchez, had worked that Friday cleaning a building in Woodside before going to Monte Carlo, where he claimed he was allowed in despite being underage at the time, according to police reports. He suggested that Perez-Sanchez begin “talking” to the victim and the situation escalated. He claimed that they were confronted by a van with an “additional 10 people,” adding that brandishing a gun wasn’t very effective at deterring them.

Court documents state that Perez-Sanchez was on probation at the time following a case in San Mateo County that found he violated child endangerment laws.

After the arrest, police searched the suspects’ Menlo Park home and found several rounds of ammunition and a Taser, according to the Mountain View Police Department.

Both the prosecutor and the defense agreed on the plea deal, which was was reached last month, and the judge is not expected to reject the recommended sentences, according to Deputy District Attorney Joanna Lee.

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