An El Paso man was arrested on an aggravated kidnapping charge after he allegedly claimed he was going to use a bank employee as a “shield,” authorities said.
Luis Fernando Colomo, 26, was arrested Tuesday, Oct. 21, on suspicion of aggravated kidnapping by using a hostage as a shield, El Paso Police Department spokeswoman Detective Judy Oviedo said in a news release.
Luis Fernando Colomo
Officers responded to a kidnapping report at the Government Employees Credit Union (GECU) located at 9435 Dyer St. in Northeast El Paso. Witnesses told officers that Colomo entered the bank “acting nervously and later claimed to an employee that armed men were following him,” the news release states.
Colomo “grabbed the employee, implied he had a weapon, and forced him into an office and later outside the building,” the news release states. The employee was a 28-year-old man.
He allegedly told the employee that he planned to use the employee as a “shield.” The employee managed to escape from Colomo. Officers found Colomo near the bank and arrested him on the aggravated kidnapping charge.
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Colomo was previously arrested on a warrant for assault on a security officer from an incident that happened on Oct. 10 at a Sun Metro bus terminal located at 9348 Dyer St., the news release states. The victim in that case was a 47-year-old man. Colomo was out on bond for that charge. No further information was released on that incident.
He was booked into the El Paso County jail on a $75,000 bond. He remains jailed as of Wednesday, Oct. 22, jail records show.
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on X/Twitter @AMartinezEPT.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso man arrested for threatening to use bank employee as a shield