HIALEAH, Fla. – A Miami-Dade man faces three felony charges after Hialeah police arrested him following a reported abduction caught on a home surveillance camera.
According to an arrest affidavit, Hialeah police responded to the area of West 12th Avenue and West 79th Street just before 6:40 p.m. Monday after receiving reports of an abduction caught on a home surveillance camera.
Police said after reviewing the footage, they located the vehicle depicted in the video in the area of West Fifth Lane and West 78th Street.
Police said Frank Andres Guanche, 24, was fighting with a female victim over money issues, when the argument became physical. The report states the victim exited the vehicle and Guanche began to follow her, demanding she re-enter it.
Guanche then drove in front of the victim, exited the vehicle, chased her into a confined driveway and slapped her in the face, according to the affidavit. Police said Guanche then grabbed her by the hair, causing her to fall and then dragged the victim by her hair at least 25 feet, forcing her into the vehicle and keeping her confined against her will.
Disturbing surveillance video obtained by Local 10 News shows a man physically dragging a woman by her arm, and as she cries out, seemingly forces her into the passenger side of a car.
There appears to be a brief struggle before the man gets behind the wheel and drives off, even as the passenger door remained partially open.
It all played out in front of the home belonging to Monica Perez, who also serves as a Hialeah City Council member.
“At that point I didn’t know if it was an abduction, because he dragged her from the front of my driveway all the way towards the end of my driveway where is car was parked,” she said.
Perez has no connection the couple.
A neighbor called the police, and Gaunche was arrested.
He faces charges of kidnapping, aggravated stalking and false imprisonment, all felonies, in addition to a misdemeanor charge of battery.
They are all serious criminal charges, as was noted by the judge presiding over Gaunche’s hearing, but the woman at the center of the video, who wants to remain anonymous, is now disputing what actually happened.
“It was an argument that just got out of hand,” she said. “I was not being held against my will.”
Local 10 News Terrell Forney asked the woman if she was excusing the behavior that we saw in the video.
“I’m not excusing anybody’s actions, I’m just here to state that he did not kidnap me or abduct me,” she replied. “I did not feel endangered around him.”
The arrest report notes redness and scratches on the victim, but she maintains that Guanche had nothing to do with those marks.
“He did take me to the car, he did drag me to the car, but he did not lay his fingers on me, asa I told the police officers,” she said.
As of Tuesday morning, he was being held in jail without bond.