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Ransom call for man kidnapped, sodomized

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BATON ROUGE – Police are searching for three people connected to a violent attack on a man that left the victim's family living in fear as the trio made a slew of ransom demands recently.

Almoine Lemar Powell, Damar Xavier Coleman and Samuel Josea Smith, Jr., are wanted on various charges related to kidnapping, sexual battery and false imprisonment with a weapon. Police are actively looking for the men who all share the same address on Underwood Avenue.

The WBRZ Investigative Unit learned of the attack through court records and family of the victim who asked not to be identified over concerns for their safety.

“We are scared,” a family member said in an interview Wednesday, about a week after the attack. The victim was safe, the family said, after freeing himself from his captors.

Those with knowledge of the investigation said Powell was the ringleader and the other two men assisted in a night-long ordeal where the victim was waterboarded and sodomized.

In a final phone call between family and the captors, family members said Powell asked for the $1,500 ransom – or else.

“[I'm] fixin' to give your brother the business,” a man is heard on a recording of the phone call before it cuts off. The family said it was Powell on the line at the time.  Listen to the call a the top of this story. 

According to records obtained by WBRZ, Powell and the victim – who WBRZ will not identify at this time – had a dispute over stolen merchandise, though some argue there was a more nefarious reason involving illegal substances, and tortured the victim until he received payment for what he decided was the amount taken. The victim was attacked with pepper spray, waterboarded, bound, and sodomized with a screw driver before being locked in the trunk of a car last week.

The man was able to free himself while in the car, unlatch the trunk from the inside and escaped while people inside the vehicle discussed what to do with him, family and court records indicate.

Family said the victim was safe in another state and spoke with WBRZ from outside of Baton Rouge, too. They said they did not pay the ransom.

“We're going to let God handle [the attackers],” a family member said. “They have families, too.”

Speaking with a shaken voice Wednesday afternoon, a family member said they are still worried.

“I am angry; very, very angry… [and] paranoid,” the family member said. “I haven't slept a night since.”

According to records, Baton Rouge Police are handling the investigation.  

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Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz

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