Oct 10, 2007

Fourth charged in kidnapping

By Harry Harris and Paul Rosynsky / MediaNews

DNA recovered from a knife used in the May kidnapping and torture of two women led to a fourth member of Your Black Muslim Bakery being charged Tuesday in the case, authorities said.

Yusuf Bey V, 20, was linked to the abduction and torture by statements from the three other suspects and because DNA found on a knife used to torture one of the women "cannot be ruled out" as being his, authorities said.

Officer Jesse Grant said Bey, who was already in jail on an assault weapon case, denied being involved in the kidnapping.

A belligerent Bey - wearing a yellow county jail jumpsuit and constantly shaking his head no - was arraigned Tuesday afternoon on multiple criminal counts, saying at least twice in court the case against him "is bull-(expletive)."

Bey had several supporters in the courtroom, including a woman who yelled "they are convicting you on your last name. ... Sorry (expletive) mother-(expletive)."

Another male supporter was seen trying to harass a newspaper reporter.

Bey did not enter a plea Tuesday and will return to court next week to see if he has arranged for a private attorney. He is being held without bail.

The charges filed Tuesday against Bey include kidnapping, kidnapping for extortion, kidnapping in commission of a carjacking, two counts of false imprisonment and unauthorized use of an official looking vehicle.

He was also charged with sentencing enhancement clauses including using a gun and a knife, committing a crime while on bail and having a prior felony conviction - possession of an assault weapon in April 2007.

Bey's older half-brother Yusuf Bey IV, 21, self-proclaimed leader of the bakery organization, and two other bakery members - Joshua Bey, 20, and Tamon Halfin, 21, - who were all arrested Aug. 3, have already been charged with most of the same counts. They were arrested after hundreds of police raided the bakery in the 5800 block of San Pablo Avenue and residences associated with bakery members.

Authorities said those three men implicated Yusuf Bey V in the case after their arrests but it took the DNA comparison to get the corroborating evidence prosecutors needed to charge Bey.

Authorities said other DNA found on the knife also cannot be ruled out as being from Yusuf Bey IV.

Authorities said Yusuf Bey IV and Yusuf Bey V were in a black Ford Crown Victoria modified to look like an unmarked police car when they stopped the mother and daughter's car May 17 on Interstate 580 after they left a bingo game.

Joshua Bey and Halfin were in a Chrysler 300 that followed the women's car before it was stopped, authorities said.

The women were driven in the Ford to a house associated with the bakery on Avenal Avenue. There, some of the men, including Yusus Bey V - who was carrying a gun - took the handcuffed daughter inside while another suspect guarded the mother in the car, police said.

The daughter was tortured by the suspects, who wanted her to either give them money or call someone they could get money from. Authorities said they believe the knife and other objects were used in the torturing.

The women were freed when a police officer saw the modified car and thought other officers were investigating a crime. When he went to investigate, the suspects fled and he could hear the daughter's screams from inside the house.

The suspects all fled on foot, leaving behind evidence including the cars, a cell phone belonging to Joshua Bey and the knife that eventually led to their arrests, authorities said.

Police said they took DNA samples from Yusuf Bey IV, Joshua Bey and Halfin the day they were arrested. A DNA sample was taken from Yusuf Bey V the next day in jail. It was not immediately known when the DNA links to the knife were made.

Police said the kidnapping investigation is still continuing.