BOZEMAN — A pair of suspects in Saturday's reported kidnapping in Bozeman on Saturday evening are being held in Gallatin County Detention Center.
Issac Cardona, 42 of Belgrade and Jamey Charon Jr., 24 of Manhattan, were seen in Gallatin County Justice Court on Monday, Mar. 15, 2021. Cardona was charged with aggravated kidnapping, tampering with witness and informants, and assault with a weapon. Charon was charged with aggravated kidnapping.
Law enforcement in Gallatin County took Cardona and Charon into custody Saturday evening after a reported kidnapping in Bozeman.
According to charging documents, the Sheriff's Office, along with the Bozeman Police Department, Belgrade Police Department and Montana Highway Patrol responded to a report of an attempted kidnapping and homicide-in-progress just before 4 p.m. Saturday.
A suspect vehicle was traveling on Interstate 90 westbound, up to 120 miles per hour, from the area of Moffit Gulch Road and I-90. The reporting party said that a woman had been threatened with a machete and was being kidnapped in a car that he was following. There were reportedly two men in the vehicle with the woman.
A media release said the vehicle was stopped near mile marker 304, briefly closing both lanes of traffic.
Law enforcement was able to detain the suspects without further incident.
The woman was transported to Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. During an interview with detectives at the hospital, the woman stated she was with the reporting party and had been driven to a location to meet Charon, not realizing Cardona was in the car. She reportedly approached Charon's vehicle and intended to get into the front passenger seat but did not see Cardona because he was in the back seat. She reportedly stated that Cardona was not supposed to be there and Charon, "Set me up."
The woman told detectives that Cardona jumped out of the back seat and began swinging a machete at her from approximately an arm's length distance. He reportedly continued to chase her and physically assault her. The woman also reported that Cardona began hitting the reporting party's vehicle with the machete in the incident. She reportedly got into Charon's vehicle and attempted to lock the doors, but Cardona then broke the passenger side window out with the machete and he and Charon were able to gain entry into the vehicle.
Charon reportedly drove away from the scene with the woman in the front passenger seat and Cardona in the back seat. According to the victim, she told the men to stop and pull over and that she wanted to get out. Charon continued to drive at approximately 110 MPH while Cardona reportedly was punching her from behind.
While they were being stopped, the woman told law enforcement that Cardona told her to tell law enforcement that the reporting party was the one who committed the assault, smashed the window and caused injuries to her.
During an interview, the reporting party stated he drove the woman to a location to meet Charon, but neither of them knew anyone else was going to be with Charon. He stated that Cardona jumped out of the back passenger seat and began punching and "chopping" at the victim with a machete. He reportedly told law enforcement that he believed Cardona and Charon were going to kill the victim.
When Charon was interviewed, he reportedly confirmed that he arranged to meet with the woman and that she was unaware that Cardona was going to be with him. Charon reportedly admitted that when the woman told him to "get me away from him" and "pull over" he thought she was talking about the reporting party.
Cardona's bail is set at $500,000, Charon's bail is $300,000. Both will appear in district court for a preliminary hearing on April 2.
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