Kidnap victim seeks help from bank staff

A man walked into a bank in Lafayette Tuesday afternoon and told the staff that he’d been kidnapped and forced to withdraw money from his account, according to police.

Officers were dispatched to the Chase Bank at 3492 Mt. Diablo Blvd. at 1:53 p.m.

Investigators determined that the victim had walked into the bank and told the people working there that a suspect had beaten and threatened him at his home on Sweet Drive.

The suspect, later identified as Manuel Bustos, 26, took a shotgun from the victim’s home and forced the victim into a car before driving him to the bank.

Bustos was waiting in the vehicle when police arrived and detained him at gunpoint.

Investigators are currently interviewing Bustos, but police say that later he’ll be booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on suspicion of kidnapping, robbery, burglary and possession of a stolen vehicle.