Man faces his alleged kidnappers in court
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Twenty-year-old Mussa Asiad struggles with the words as he talks to us about an incident that he says has forever changed his life.
“He put out a black pistol on me and started threatening me not to move not to make any sound or they would kill me,” Mussa said.
He was 17 years of age when he said he was dragged into a van in Calexico and was beaten for over an hour by four people.
“They just start beating me. He turns around. He puts his whole seat back, reclines it on me. My legs are not able to move. The guy in back of me is choking me with the head rest. And I’m just not able to move. I’m in shock. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me,” Mussa said.
He said his alleged attackers let him go only when he told them his cell phone would lead his father to them.
“They had thrown me out of the van, the van was still moving. I was on the ground. I remember seeing lights driving away, fading away,” Mussa said.
That was three years ago. On Thursday , the Asiad family faced three of the four alleged attackers at El Centro’s Superior Court. One is still at large.
Mussa’s father, Mohamed Asiad told us as he climbed the court steps to attend the day’s pre-trial hearing, “I’m here to protest and to ask for justice for my son, for the crime that was committed against him.”
He said some key evidence might not be available, greatly affecting the case.
“By this time, the 911 call was disappeared. They say they don’t have a nine-one-one call. All the evidence in the case they claim is all destroyed, we don’t have it,” Asiad said.
Mussa’s family told us he suffers from PTSD, loss of hearing, and some brain injuries. The next court date is set for August 30 .
