An arrest warrant was issued today for a man accused of taking part in a kidnapping and robbery in Oak Harbor Jan. 31.
Oak Harbor resident Oscar Sampedro, 34, is considered armed and dangerous. The Oak Harbor police ask anyone with information on his whereabouts to call 911.
Sampedro is known by many aliases, including Diablo, Little Smiley, Zoom Sampedro, Smiley, Smiley X and Oscar Sanchez, according to the Oak Harbor Police Department.
Prosecutors charged Sampedro in Island County Superior Court today with first-degree degree robbery and second-degree kidnapping.
The 29-year-old alleged victim reported that the incident occurred after he was hanging out with acquaintances at the Parkwood Manor trailer park during the night of Jan. 30 and the early morning of Jan. 31.
The man agreed to go for a ride with Oscar, later identified as Sampedro, and two younger men in a black SUV that Sampedro was driving. The man was sitting behind the driver. They went to a gas station and then parked at the Family Bible Church.
Sampedro allegedly pulled out a gun and pointed it at the victim, telling him he had “bad news” for him, according to the police report written by Detective Mike Bailey.
The man sitting next to the victim bound his hands with zip ties. The assailants made him get out of the vehicle and put his hands on the roof; they stole his backpack, wallet, jacket, shoes and money, the report states.
The men tried to cut the restraints by burning them off with a torch-style lighter but stopped after they burned the victim. They twisted off the zip ties with a pliers, told the man to leave town and drove off, Bailey wrote.
Instead, he walked to his father’s house and called the police.
The police report does not identify the two young men who allegedly assisted Sampedro in the robbery.
The Bellingham police found the Lincoln Navigator that Sampedro drives in a ditch today. Sampedro was at the scene and attempted to claim the vehicle, but it was towed. He was not taken into custody.
Bailey wrote that he is familiar with Sampedro. He helped transport him to Whidbey General Hospital after he attempted to hang himself in jail with his socks, he wrote.
