Queens Man Tortured With Blowtorch, Bleach By NJ Kidnappers: Feds

QUEENS, NY — A trio of kidnappers brutalized a Queens man by pouring bleach on him and burning him with a blowtorch, among other gruesome tortures, federal prosecutors said.

The three New Jersey men — Aasim Boone, 41, Jarrett Bruce, 40, and Lesly Valentin, 38 — were charged this week in Brooklyn federal court with kidnapping and extortion.

The charges stem from the December abduction at gunpoint of a man outside his Astoria apartment, authorities said.

After torturing the man over nearly five hours, the kidnappers released him in Manhattan before threatening him with further harm unless he paid them $150,000 in cash and 50 pounds of marijuana, prosecutors said.

"Remember how spicy s--- gets!" one accused kidnapper texted the man.

Horrific details about the torture are detail in court documents filed by federal prosecutors, who argued the trio — who are reputed to have ties to a New Jersey street gang — should remain behind bars until trial.

The accused kidnappers subjected their victim to escalating forms of torture.

"They beat and threatened him with a gun; sliced his ear with a knife; applied a blowtorch to his back; and removed him from the vehicle to pour bleach all over his burned body," documents state.

The man was released on the Upper East Side after he promised to pay his kidnappers, according to documents.

And it's this trip by car to Manhattan that helped tie the trio to the kidnapping, documents state. Cellular location data shows a kidnapper driving into upper Manhattan, as well as over the George Washington Bridge and near the victim's apartment, according to documents.

Boone and Bruce, who both hail from Englewood, were arrested before their scheduled Thursday afternoon arraignment, prosecutors said.

Valentin, of Asbury Park, was already in custody on a separate charge, authorities said.

The trio face a maximum sentence of life in prison if they're convicted on the charge of kidnapping conspiracy.

"A victim subjected to kidnapping, brutal beatings, inhumane torture, and cash demands – this not a plot from a movie – these three defendants allegedly conspired and carried out these despicable acts on their target," said James Smith, assistant director-in-charge for the FBI's New York field office, in a statement.

"The alleged actions of Boone, Bruce, and Valentin are disturbing and will not be tolerated."