Tri-Cities man accused of kidnapping girlfriend, threatening her mother with gun

A 36-year-old man allegedly carried his girlfriend out of a Kennewick apartment, starting a crime spree that included a short standoff.

Johnny C. Borrego’s string of crimes started in June when he fled from police, court documents said. They turned violent on July 11 when he forced his girlfriend out of a Kennewick apartment and threatened her mother with a gun.

The Kennewick man is being held in the Benton County jail on $225,000 bail. Prosecutors charged him with second-degree kidnapping, attempting to elude police, unlawful imprisonment, illegally possessing a gun, driving with a suspended license and possessing a weapon.

Details on the June police chase weren’t available in the court documents, but Borrego was already wanted by the police when he showed up at the Mandarin Apartments on July 11 at 3:15 p.m., court documents said.

After arriving, Borrego went to the apartment where his girlfriend and her mother lived, court documents said.

When he went inside, the two women were sitting on the sofa. Borrego began yelling at his girlfriend that she was going to leave with him.

When she refused to leave, Borrego put both arms around her and picked her up. She tried to stop him from leaving by bracing herself at the door. The girlfriend’s mother confronted Borrego at the door, and he allegedly pulled out a handgun and pointed it at her.

When the girlfriend’s mother backed off, Borrego continued to force his girlfriend out of the home and into a Chevy Malibu.

While police were searching for the couple, Borrego returned to the same apartment. He allegedly kept his girlfriend’s mother in the apartment when she tried to leave. She eventually had to hide in an exterior storage closet for 20 minutes before she could escape.

Borrego’s girlfriend was also able to escape.

The Tri-Cities Regional SWAT team surrounded the apartment and after a short negotiation he was taken into custody, Kennewick police said in a Facebook post.