Three Laramie men are accused of duct-taping a woman’s mouth, hands and ankles, then cutting her with a knife, beating and threatening her because she was “disrespecting” them.
Brandon Darrel Warden, 41; Brenceis Altair Jimenez, 41; and Felix Alexander Carrera, 33, (also known as Felix Gallegos) each face two kidnapping charges, three aggravated assault charges and one felonious restraint charge — all felonies which together carry a chance of life in prison.
Warden’s case rose Monday to the felony-level Albany County District Court.
The incident allegedly happened in late July in a Laramie apartment
While Jimenez and Warden were arrested late last month, Carrera has not been arrested, the Albany County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Tuesday.
Warden’s case was filed Monday in the felony-level Albany County District Court. Jimenez’s case rose to the felony-level court Wednesday.
With Injuries To Match
Laramie Police Department Detective Cheryl Kondratieff on July 26 received a report saying that two days earlier, a woman had been bound with duct tape, cut with a knife and beaten by three men: Jimenez and Warden and Felix Gallegos, who is charged under the name Felix Carrera.
Kondratieff also received photographs from another officer showing bruises and cuts on the woman’s body that were consisted with her statement, says the affidavit.
The detective met with the woman. Her account of the events started the evening of July 23. She was with Warden, and they were having trouble with a red Durango. Someone dropped her off at Warden’s apartment in Laramie, says the affidavit.
She woke in the morning to find Gallegos and Jimenez in a “pissy mood,” the woman told Kondratieff. They asked the woman why she didn’t help tow the vehicle, the document relates.
The affidavit says she went outside to help Jimenez push the vehicle into a parking space. When she returned to the apartment, she noticed somebody had gone through all of her things, including her divorce paperwork, the affidavit says.
Gallegos told her he’d help her fill out the divorce papers, but she reportedly said she wanted a lawyer to help her with that first.
Disrespecting
Warden walked up to the woman as she sat on the couch and bound her wrists with white duct tape, the document says.
Jimenez told her she was disrespecting him, allegedly.
Warden next bound duct tape around her mouth and head, while Gallegos asked her where her phone was, the document says. She mumbled that she didn’t know.
Warden then taped her ankles, says the document. Someone told her to move to the other couch, and she hopped over to it. Gallegos found her phone where she’d just been sitting, the affidavit says.
Jimenez said something like, “You want to lie about your phone?” the woman recalled to Kondratieff.
Jimenez and Gallegos then allegedly punched the back of her head several times. She used her hands to pull the duct tape down from her mouth.
Warden put more duct tape around her mouth.
Jimenez sat on the couch next to the woman and pulled her down toward his lap, wrapped an arm around her neck and twisted it, the document alleges. It says he also pressed his hand on the front of her throat, making it difficult for her to breathe.
She sat up, and Gallegos started punching her head again, the document says.
Jimenez then grabbed a sledgehammer and told her he’d hit her with it next, then he put it down and grabbed a silver kitchen knife, says the affidavit.
Jimenez and Gallegos held the woman’s left arm in place while Jimenez cut it with a knife, reportedly.
Jimenez told her he’d give her a scar so she’d remember to have respect for people, the affidavit says. Then he got up and walked away.
Jimenez soon returned saying how “pissed off” he was and showed the woman the broken tip of the knife.
Washing Dishes
The affidavit does not say whether the men unbound the woman, but it says Warden told her to get up and clean, and that she got up and started washing dishes.
Gallegos still had her phone and wouldn’t return it to her, the document says.
The affidavit says Jimenez told the woman to meet him in the bedroom, and she did. He told her not to tell anyone what had happened or he’d go after her and her family, and it would be worse next time, says the affidavit.
The document says the men took all of the woman’s things, including a purple electronic cigarette, USB phone chargers and keys to a Toyota 4Runner.
Getting A Ride Out Of There
The next day, a man whom the affidavit calls “an unknown friend” of the three men arrived at the apartment. The woman asked him for a ride home, and he drove her home.
Once home, the woman eventually told her mother what had happened, says the document.
On July 27, Kondratieff executed a search warrant at Warden’s apartment. The search reportedly yielded:
• A Samsung phone.
• A roll of white duct tape.
• Used white duct tape with long hair embedded in it.
• A kitchen knife with a broken blade.
• A sledgehammer.
The Tally
Aggravated assault is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 fines in Wyoming, and felonious restraint carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
But the maximum penalty for kidnapping depends on whether the defendants voluntarily let the victim go substantially unharmed. It’s up to 20 years and $10,000 in fines if a jury finds they voluntarily let her go, and it’s between 20 years and life, plus $10,000 in fines, if a jury finds they didn’t.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
