FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM) — Bentonville police have arrested a second person accused of kidnapping and robbing a man last fall.
Vianca Veimau, 27, of Springdale was arrested Friday (April 13) in connection with kidnapping and aggravated robbery — both felonies.
The man said he set up a meeting with Veimau in October 2017 through Backpage.com, but was ambushed by her passenger, Alejandro Reyes, when he got into her car, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The man said Reyes held him at gunpoint and put a bag over his head, took the man’s wallet and cell phone and then drove the trio to the Walmart on Mall Avenue, where the woman tried to use the victim’s credit cards.
The cards were declined, so Reyes drove the man to the Christian Life Cathedral, where the pair made him strip, according to the affidavit.
The man said Reyes — who had threatened to kill him several times — punched him before driving off, according to the affidavit.
The man said a person checked on him in the parking lot before Fayetteville police arrived and took him to the Bentonville Police Department.
Fayetteville police later obtained surveillance video from Walmart, which showed a maroon Honda Accord carrying Veimau, who the victim picked from a lineup.
Veimau went inside the Walmart and left after the credit cards were declined at the register, according to the affidavit. Police later found the Honda was registered to Reyes.
Reyes was being held at the Washington County Detention Center on a $50,000 bond. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial is set for April 24 in Washington County Circuit Court.
Veimau was being held at the Benton County Jail on a $103,940 bond. She has a hearing set for May 21 in Benton County Circuit Court.
Last week, the FBI seized and shutdown Backpage.com, according to CBS affiliate KTVK in Phoenix, Ariz. The website has been under investigation for years for claims that the site facilitates sex trafficking on their adult ads page.
The site allows users to post ads for ‘escorts’ and investigators say many of the ads are actually for underage girls, KTVK reports.
The charges were filed in Arizona because the website was founded and maintained there. It’s also where Backpage.com’s servers are located.
The U.S. Department of Justice says almost every single sex trafficking case involves online ads, mostly from Backpage.com.
