New York man arrested for kidnapping in Southern California after alleged cross-country crime spree

By Dean Fioresi

A New York man was arrested in Southern California over the weekend for allegedly kidnapping a North Carolina woman and bringing her on a cross-country crime spree, officials said on Monday. 

San Bernardino County deputies were called on Saturday to The Shoppes at Chino Hills in the 13900 block of City Center Drive after receiving reports of suspicious people loitering in front of a Sephora store, according to a news release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. 

Upon arrival, deputies detained two people and began their investigation. They located “several fraudulent identification cards, social security cards, and debit cards,” the release said. 

Investigators interviewed one of the people outside of the store, who was identified only as a 51-year-old woman from North Carolina. According to the release, investigators determined that she was “kidnapped and forced to travel across the country” by New York resident Rahson Govantes, 28, and an unidentified woman, “to commit fraud throughout the United States.”

“During their travels, Govantes and the female suspect tortured and abused the victim by burning her with cigarettes and a curling iron,” deputies said. 

Govantes was arrested and booked on multiple felony charges, including aggravated mayhem, torture, kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon, according to the release. 

“Investigators are working to identify the female suspect and any additional victims,” deputies said. 

Those with more information are asked to call Chino Hills Police Department officers at (909) 364-2000.