A grand jury charged three people in the 2017 kidnapping of a South Los Angeles actress and actor, one of whom was beaten while the other was extorted for thousands of dollars, authorities said Tuesday.
Keith Stewart, Johntae Jones and Amber Neal were charged with 17 felony counts, including kidnapping, grand theft auto, mayhem and assault with a semiautomatic firearm, according to a news release from the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.
The grand jury indictment, which was unsealed Tuesday, accuses the three individuals of kidnapping “Halloween: Resurrection” actress Daisy McCrackin and actor Joseph Capone from McCrackin’s South L.A. home on May 3, 2017.
Defendants Stewart and Jones allegedly pistol-whipped Capone and dragged him to the waiting car, the indictment states.
After McCrackin was also forced into the vehicle, the defendants allegedly placed black canvas hoods over the victims’ heads and drove them to Jones’ home in Compton.
There, Capone was stripped naked and held ransom in a bathtub for 30 hours without food, prosecutors said. The indictment states the three conspirators “beat, punched, and kicked” Capone whenever he tried to protect McCrackin, though it was unclear what exactly he was protecting her from.
The defendants then demanded either $10,000 or $20,000 in ransom for Capone to be released, according to the indictment. Driving McCrackin’s car, Jones and Neal took the actress to two different Bank of America locations where they allegedly forced her to withdraw funds.
At one bank location, McCrackin was required to write a $10,000 check to Neal, which Neal deposited into her own account, the indictment said.
McCrackin was driven back to her home, where she was able to escape. She alerted police to Capone’s abduction, and officers were able to locate the victim and Stewart on May 5, 2017.
According to inmate records, Stewart was arrested that day. He was being held on $2.08 million bail and faces a maximum possible sentence of life in state prison without parole, according to prosecutors.
Inmate records indicate Jones was arrested on Jan. 4, and officials said he also faces a maximum possible sentence of life in state prison without parole.
The final arrest was made Monday in Inglewood, when Los Angeles police officers took Neal in custody.
Her arrest was captured on video by a bystander and has since been viewed over 2 million times on Twitter.
Warning: The video below contains language some viewers may find offensive.
https://twitter.com/x__ricardo/status/1013849332577996800
Initially, people criticized the officers for aiming their guns at an unarmed woman whose hands were in the air. Later on Tuesday, prosecutors confirmed that the woman is actually the final defendant in the kidnapping case.
Both Jones and Neal are being held on $1 million bail. Neal faces up to life in prison.
The defendants’ next court date is scheduled for July 23.