Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Two Men bound, gagged & stabbed in Rialto; Motive Unknown.. LA Times 100610

2 men bound, gagged and stabbed in Rialto; motive unknown

October 6, 2010 | 11:58 am

Four men in their 20s were arrested Wednesday after allegedly binding, gagging and stabbing two men outside a Rialto home, authorities said.

The two victims, who live in the high desert, drove to Hesperia on Tuesday night to meet some people, but when they arrived, four men gagged them and tied their wrists, drove them in their own car to Rialto, said Lt. Joe Cirilo of the Rialto Police Department.

Police said the victims were then stabbed multiple times in the upper body, and it appeared the suspects planned to set them on fire. But something happened to break the chain of events.

“They were in the middle of stabbing the victims, somebody fired a gun nearby and forced the suspects to flee,” Cirilo said. “We found a gas can with a rag next to it. It appears that not only did they intend to stab and kill the victims, but they wanted to torch the car and burn the victims inside.”

Police were trying to determine where the gunshots came from and if they were related to the stabbing.

At 12:19 a.m., police and firefighters received a call about a possible shooting in the 1800 block of West Base Line Road. When they arrived, they found one of the victims on a dirt shoulder.

“He ran a short distance,” Cirilo said. “He was bound and gagged with duct tape.”

Police quickly found the other stabbing victim, who was in critical condition. Both were taken to a hospital.

Soon after, authorities arrested the four suspects, all in their 20s, who had been hiding nearby. The motive for the stabbings was under investigation.

-- Ching-Ching Ni