2 Charged After Family Targeted in Kidnapping, Crypto Robbery

Sep 24

Two Texas brothers are accused of kidnapping a Washington County family at gunpoint and holding them hostage for hours inside their Grant home.

The brothers allegedly forced one victim to drive to a remote cabin to hand over tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency as part of the robbery.

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According to criminal complaints, Isiah Angelo Garcia, 24, and his brother, Raymond Christian Garcia, 23, face multiple felony charges including kidnapping, aggravated robbery and first-degree burglary after the Sept. 19 home invasion on Inwood Way North in Grant.

Both men were arrested in Texas and remain in custody awaiting extradition with bail set at $200,000 each.

The ordeal began around 7:45 a.m. when the father of the family stepped outside to take out the garbage. He was confronted by two masked men dressed in dark clothing and armed with an AR-15 style rifle and a shotgun. The men forced him into the garage, bound his hands with zip ties and then took him inside the home, where his wife and son were also restrained at gunpoint. Deputies later had to cut a wire securing a third-floor bedroom door to free two of the victims.

Court filings say Raymond Garcia held the mother and son hostage in an upstairs bedroom for nine hours while Isiah Garcia drove the father three hours north to the family’s cabin near Jacobson in Aitkin County, where more than $36,000 in cryptocurrency was taken. Throughout the day, the brothers were on the phone with an unidentified third party who directed them through the transfers.

When Isiah and the father returned to the neighborhood that evening, the son managed to call 911. Deputies rushed to the scene and passed the truck carrying Isiah and the father. Isiah ran from the vehicle and discarded the shotgun in a field near 75th Street North before continuing on foot toward a school parking lot. At the same time, Raymond was captured on the family’s security cameras leaving the home with the AR-15 and fleeing into a wooded area. Both firearms were later recovered, the court documents say.

Investigators uncovered a trail of evidence that linked the men to the crime. A suitcase found behind the home contained the AR-15, ammunition, clothing and a Wendy’s receipt. That receipt led to surveillance video in Roseville showing the brothers arriving in a rented white Chevrolet Malibu with Texas plates. The car’s GPS records placed it at the victims’ home, at the Roseville motel where the brothers had rented rooms under false names and later back in Texas.

Motel cameras showed them wearing orange construction vests and carrying distinctive bags — items later seized during a search of their home. Investigators also noted that Raymond tried to distance himself from the recovered weapons by filing a false stolen-gun report in Texas.

The large-scale search for the armed suspects near Grant and surrounding communities prompted safety concerns that evening. In Mahtomedi, the school district announced the cancellation of its homecoming football game as deputies combed the area for the fleeing brothers.

The charges carry maximum penalties of 40 years per kidnapping count and up to 20 years each for the burglary and robbery charges. Authorities emphasized in court filings that both men present an ongoing danger to the victims and the public if released.

The complaints note that the brothers attempted to distance themselves from the recovered weapons by later reporting them stolen in Texas. Investigators matched serial numbers and linked the guns directly back to Raymond Garcia. Both men are being held pending extradition to Minnesota.

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