Update: Earlier this week, we told you about the arrests of four men — Steven Hillen, Edgar Barroso, Juvenal Tamayo and Pedro Valdez — on suspicion of kidnapping and sexual assault; see our previous coverage below.
Now, information from arrest reports in the case has surfaced, and the details are extremely disturbing.
They involve four women who were allegedly held hostage for at least a day and possibly more. During that period, crimes against them are said to have included forced stripping and drug-taking, a pistol-whipping and threats to kill them illustrated by a gun placed in one victim's mouth and a display of loaded syringes.
The documents obtained by 7News and Fox31 say that police first learned about the situation at about 5:30 a.m. Friday, August 14. They were informed by a woman who'd made her way to Denver Health.
According to her, she had gone to the Breakfast King restaurant the previous morning, where she was kidnapped at gunpoint.
From there, she said she was taken to a home on the 1200 block of Mariposa Street.
Another woman was already there. The men allegedly ordered the pair to strip to their underwear, at which point they used duct tape to bind them.
Along the way, the report says, Barroso pistol-whipped one woman and fired a shot into the floor while delivering threats to kill both of them.
From there, they were taken to a new location — a garage at 567 South Eliot Street, where two more apparent kidnapping victims were brought, raising the total number of victims to four.
The accounts about what happened in the garage get fuzzy, perhaps because at least one of the women says she was forced to take methamphetamine. She acknowledges that she passed out on several occasions — but she believes she may have been sexually assaulted.
Another horrific happening is noted in this excerpt from the statements: "The victims related that at one point in the night, Barroso brought out multiple syringes and stated they can overdose all four victims."
Hillen is also quoted as suggesting that they kill all the women "because they had seen too much."
The woman who went to the cops says she was eventually released and driven to the home of a friend. In response to her story, a SWAT raid was conducted at the Mariposa house, but no one was there.
However, the victim's description of the garage helped law enforcers find the Eliot Street structure.
The three other victims were reportedly inside, along with Barroso, Tamayo and Valdez. Narcotics, two firearms and assault-rifle ammo was also located.
Hillen was found and taken into custody several days later.
Thus far, none of the men have been formally charged, likely because tests are being conducted to determine if sexual assaults did indeed take place.
Look below to see full-size booking photos of Barroso, Tamayo and Valdez, followed by a 7News report and our previous coverage, featuring Hillen's mug shot and more.
Original post, 8:50 a.m. August 18: Over the past several days, the Denver Police Department has rounded up four suspects as part of an investigation into an alleged kidnapping and sexual assault.
Three of the men — Edgar Barroso, Juvenal Tamayo and Pedro Valdez — were cuffed following a SWAT raid on Friday, August 14.
Then, yesterday, August 17, law enforcers rounded up Steven Hillen, the subject of a crime alert from days earlier.
And while we don't yet know many details about what the quartet is thought to have done in the latest instance, Valdez and Hillen have been on the DPD's radar for months.
As evidence, check this department Facebook post from this spring, shared under the headline "See Something Say Something Success:"
Friday, May 29, 2015, Denver Police District 4 officers responded to the 800 block of S. Peterson Way, after receiving a call from a member of a neighborhood watch group on a suspicious occurrence. The caller explained that two suspicious parties were pushing a white truck, inspecting bullet holes in the tailgate, and trying to start the vehicle using a screwdriver. When officers arrived on scene, they saw one suspect wearing an empty holster on his hip. In plain view in the front seat of that suspect’s car was a loaded pistol with a defaced serial number, as well as a digital scale. The holster-wearing suspect, 27 year-old Steven Hillen, was found to be a convicted felon, and he was arrested for possession of a weapon by a previous offender. Officers also recovered suspected methamphetamine from his vehicle. The other suspect, 30 year-old Pedro Valdez, was found to be wanted on six outstanding warrants, and he was also arrested. Inside the truck, officer recovered a pillow case containing three more pistols.This haul apparently didn't keep Hillen and Valdez behind bars for long.
On Friday, a SWAT team descended on a residence at 1201 Mariposa....
...where they entered the home....
...and collected evidence....
...but didn't take anyone into custody.
A short time later, however, the cops collected Barroso, Tamayo and Valdez, as seen in these booking photos featured in CBS4 coverage.
Meanwhile, the DPD put out a crime alert for Hillen — and three days later, the department's Facebook page posted the following: "We are happy to report that Hillen has been arrested today in the area of Kentucky & Wolff. Thank you all for your help!"
That area is captured in the following interactive graphic. If you have problems seeing the image, click "View on Google Maps."
7News was on the scene when Hillen was taken away; the raw footage is below.
Plenty of questions still remain. Thus far, the DPD is only saying that the raid on Friday was prompted by a tip about a kidnapping and sex assault — and the arrestees are being held on suspicion of charges related to those offenses.
However, we don't yet have any other information about the specifics of the crime, the victim or victims, or even when everything took place.
We'll be awaiting the answers. Until then, here's a look at Hillen's booking photo, followed by the aforementioned clips from CBS4 and 7News.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.
