THREE MEN INDICTED IN KIDNAPPING THAT LED POLICE TO EASTVALE HOME
By John Asbury

Press-Enterprise
10:00 PM PDT on Friday, August 14, 2009

Three men were indicted Friday on federal kidnapping charges that
they held a Van Nuys man for ransom for five days in an Eastvale
house with a sophisticated marijuana growing operation.

Galvin Shaun Gibson, 30, of Eastvale, Vagan Adzhemyan, 41, of Costa
Mesa, and Suren Garibyan, 32, of North Hollywood were each arrested
last week after Los Angeles police stormed an Eastvale house on
Delaware River Drive where the victim was being held, according to
a U.S. Attorney’s indictment.

The three men were indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit
kidnapping and kidnapping by a federal grand jury. They face life
in federal prison if convicted. They are scheduled to be arraigned
Aug. 24.

Gibson was arrested by SWAT officers at the home. The unidentified
hostage was hospitalized for a week-old gunshot wound. Police also
found a marijuana growing operation capable of producing about $50,000
in profit every few months.

LAPD officers said the victim was taken from his apartment in Van
Nuys, shot with a Taser, shot in the intestine with a gun, tied up
and blindfolded. The victim was forced into a waiting van, according
to the indictment.

The Van Nuys man called his family in Russia, saying he had been
kidnapped and that his family had to pay $1 million for his release
by Aug. 4.

LAPD officers and FBI agents conducted surveillance of various
locations, including the Eastvale home where suspects were seen going
back and forth and the victim was held, according to the indictment.

On Aug. 3, Gibson and his three pit bulls kept watch over the
blindfolded victim in Eastvale while the other two men used the
victim’s bank card to withdraw money from his account, the indictment
stated.

Adzhemyan, who was found with an Armenian passport, and Garibyan were
arrested that night.

The victim suffered a serious infection from a ruptured intestine
and was last listed in critical condition. He was also found with
burn wounds that were untreated, according to the indictment.

Reach John Asbury at 951-763-3451 or jasbury@PE.com