Another Suspect In Kidnapping, Pot-Related Robbery Arrested: SRPD

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Santa Rosa police said Wednesday they've arrested another person in their ongoing investigation of a suspected marijuana-related robbery and kidnapping Nov. 25 in the city. Previously, two Stockton residents, Seth Willden, 38, and Misty Lovecchio, 39, were arrested as suspects in the Slater Street marijuana deal gone bad.

Detectives later identified 22-year-old Sacramento man Shane Riolo as someone else they suspect took part in the incident, and on Tuesday traveled to the capital to take him into custody on a $500,000 arrest warrant, Santa Rosa police Sgt. Josh Ludtke said in a news release.

The detectives contacted Riolo at his workplace and placed him under arrest, then served a search warrant at his residence to look for evidence related to the robbery and kidnapping, Ludtke said.

Riolo was booked into Sacramento County jail and will be extradited to Sonoma County jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and robbery, the sergeant said.

Police were alerted to the incident at 7:35 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25 by bystanders who answered a nearly naked man's pleas for help. Officers located the 20-year-old man wearing only underwear in the parking lot of Target on Santa Rosa Avenue.

The man, whose identity was not immediately released, told officers he was brokering a marijuana deal earlier in the evening when one group of people took off without paying for about five pounds of pot. When the other group — allegedly including Willden and Lovecchio — realized their weed had been stolen, they held him at gunpoint and drove him to the 300 block of Taylor View Drive where he was forced to undress and ordered to get into the trunk of their vehicle, he told police.

The marijuana broker told officers he escaped his captors when they were not looking, then ran through an apartment complex. He asked for a ride from strangers, who then dropped him off in the Target parking lot, Ludtke said.

The investigation was ongoing Wednesday; anyone with information regarding the case was asked to call the Santa Rosa Police Department Violent Crimes Team at 707-543-3590.

RELATED: 2 Suspected Kidnappers Arrested In Marijuana Deal Gone Bad: SRPD

Main photo by Renee Schiavone/Patch