Pair charged with kidnapping, assault

A Costa Mesa pair pleaded not guilty Thursday to kidnapping and extortion after police said the two were part of a group that threatened a woman trying to buy drugs in a Costa Mesa home.

Juan Pablo Ojeda, 21, and Juanita Eileen Ortiz Carillo, 36, are charged with five felonies, including kidnapping for extortion or ransom, assault with a firearm and sale and possession of a controlled substance, all with sentencing enhancements for allegedly being gang-related.

According to police, the two were part of a group that trapped a girl inside a Costa Mesa home on Victoria Street on Dec. 17. When the woman went in to buy drugs, Ojeda pulled a gun and pointed it at her head while Carrillo and another closed the door behind her, said Newport Beach Police Sgt. Evan Sailor. The victim owed Ojeda money, Sailor said.

Newport Beach police were alerted to the crime and contacted Costa Mesa police. Together, the two departments served a search warrant on the home Tuesday and arrested the pair, among others.

Ojeda and Carillo are being held in lieu of $1 million bail and are scheduled to be back in court Jan. 5.

— Joseph Serna