Kidnapped in a parking lot in broad daylight, Erinn Orcutt had to go through 72 minutes that she would never be able to forget in her life. But bringing her attacker to justice would prove to be even more difficult and dangerous.
Daytime Abduction
Erinn Orcutt was a cocktail waitress at a restaurant in Ontario, California, USA. On April 3, 2010, the restaurant was quite empty of customers, so Erinn decided to get off work earlier than usual.
She left the restaurant, went through the parking lot of the shopping center to her car. But as soon as Erinn opened the door, she suddenly heard a man’s voice say, “Get in the car.”
At first, Erinn thought it was just a prank by a co-worker. But that thought quickly vanished, replaced by a feeling of fear when she realized the strange man was holding a gun pointed straight at her.
Instinctively, Erinn was about to scream for help but quickly understood that this action would be futile. The parking lot was deserted at that time. The strange man lowered the gun very low, holding it level with his waistline, so even if someone walked by, they wouldn’t see the gun. Not to mention his accomplice was standing behind, blocking the way.
Erinn worried that if she tried to run away, she would be shot. In the end, she had to follow his every command. She got into the car, he sat in the passenger seat and told her to drive. The accomplice did not get into the car but stayed behind.
The Crime Inside the Car
Erinn slowly drove the car out of the shopping center parking lot. The man did not tell Erinn where she would go, so she began driving towards areas where police usually patrolled. She even considered crashing the car into others but ultimately did not dare.
Erinn begged the kidnapper to take the car and let her go, promising not to report to the police, but to no avail.
After a while, the kidnapper ordered her to pull over onto the side of the road, then turn into the restaurant’s parking lot, before driving the car around to the back of the building.
Erinn’s car stopped opposite a storage warehouse and behind a gas station. There was also a liquor store right nearby. She thought the kidnapper would not dare do anything here. But Erinn was wrong.
As soon as Erinn stopped the car, he pointed the gun at her and forced her into the backseat. Erinn started crying. He made her take off her clothes. Erinn desperately begged him to let her go. But the man said that would never happen.
Although there were many vehicles passing by, the tinted windows of the SUV prevented anyone outside from seeing what was happening inside.
He threatened Erinn by sticking the loaded gun to her head and mouth, brutally ordering her to keep quiet.
While Erinn shook uncontrollably to the point of not being able to control her actions, the strange man demanded that she take off all her clothes.
The Remarkable Escape
The first time the kidnapper ordered Erinn Orcutt to take off all her clothes, he was unable to commit a sexual act with her. But that didn’t matter as he continued to abuse her in other ways.
He forced her to follow his demands like smiling while being naked so he could take photos with his phone. These photos were all sent to his accomplice.
After that, Erinn was punched in the face several times by the kidnapper, pinned down on her stomach, and he continued to attempt to rape her.
This went on for about an hour, then he suddenly ordered Erinn to put her clothes back on. “He said they were going to go to the desert now and end this,” Erinn said. “I knew if I didn’t get away right then, I’d never get another chance.”
Despite being terrified, Erinn tried to find a way to escape. At one point, she noticed his gun had fallen on the floor under the passenger seat, and the kidnapper was sitting on the side with the child lock.
When his phone rang again, Erinn waited for him to answer it, then flung open the car door and ran away as fast as she could. As she ran, she screamed for help saying “He has a gun, everybody get back inside!”
At the time, Erinn didn’t know that the owner of the nearby liquor store had noticed her suspicious SUV. He had seen glimpses of two suspicious people inside and was about to call the police. Seeing Erinn, the store owner quickly pulled her inside and pushed her behind the cash register to hide.
The Shocking Discovery
Detective Robert Marquez of the Ontario Police Department was one of the first to arrive at the scene. According to Robert, if Erinn hadn’t escaped in time, she would certainly have been in grave danger. The kidnapper had left a lot of evidence on cameras and had no intention of letting her go.
Seeing Erinn escape, the kidnapper tried to flee. He started the car but couldn’t because it had an emergency engine shut-off button, so it couldn’t start unless you knew where the sensor was. He had to abandon the car and run before the police arrived.
He quickly blended into the crowd, unaware that he had made a serious mistake by leaving his gun in the car. Moreover, in his hurry to escape, the attacker also left behind other evidence like clothes, bodily fluids and sunglasses.
The inscription on the bottom of the ammunition magazine now became the biggest clue for the police. Robert was very surprised because it had a person’s name on it with markings commonly seen on police officers.
A few hours later, Robert received news that an officer named Anthony Orban, 33, from the nearby Westminster Police Department reported that his gun had been lost or stolen in the Ontario area.
The officer put these two incidents side by side and saw that they were related.
The Truth Comes to Light
The detectives wondered whether the pervert had stolen and used the police officer’s gun, or if the attacker was actually a police officer himself.
Authorities then tracked and followed Officer Anthony Orban to a parking lot. Here, he was helping a friend and colleague of his find a truck. That friend was Jeffrey Jelinek. Jeffrey was also a police officer working at a California state prison.
Both Anthony and Jeffrey matched the descriptions Erinn gave of her attacker and his accomplice. Erinn was brought in for identification and immediately confirmed they were the two men from her statement. Not only Erinn, but even the detectives were extremely surprised at the identities of the two suspects. Anthony and Jeffrey were quickly taken into custody for questioning.
At the police station, Anthony said he had drunk quite a lot of alcohol that lunch. Since he hadn’t drunk in a long time, he quickly became intoxicated and couldn’t remember what happened in the afternoon.
Furthermore, Anthony said he was taking antidepressants, so he had no sexual urges and therefore couldn’t have committed the rape. This was consistent with Erinn’s account that her attacker had tried but failed to engage in sexual intercourse with her.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey initially pretended to have memory loss. But shortly after, he agreed to tell everything and provided the police with the explicit photos of Erinn that Anthony had taken and sent via phone.
The Haunting Aftermath
When informed that Jeffrey had confessed, Anthony again denied any guilt, claiming insanity. He said he had taken antidepressants with alcohol, so he was not in his right mind and had violent outbursts.
While awaiting trial, Erinn faced another difficulty, even though the horror of the rape was over and her attacker was behind bars. Erinn kept receiving threatening calls saying she wouldn’t be able to testify in court.
Erinn was later moved to a secret location and provided witness protection security. She only appeared on the day of the trial.
At the trial in May 2012, Anthony pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. However, the jury rejected his defense and found him guilty of kidnapping, rape, and several other sexual assault charges – a total of 8 counts.
Jeffrey agreed to testify against Anthony Orban in court in exchange for a lighter sentence. He was eventually sentenced to 5 years in prison.
On the day of sentencing, Erinn was notified that she did not need to come to court. The reason was that Anthony Orban had hanged himself in his jail cell.
Although the perpetrators had been brought to justice, the years that followed were not easy for Erinn Orcutt. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She also frequently experienced panic attacks and depression.
