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Antonio Caban (Collier County Jail).
A Florida man is facing a life sentence after a jury found him guilty of kidnapping his wife and their four children during a violent crime spree that included assaulting her with a tire iron and threatening their lives.
Antonio Caban, 36, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 7 in Collier County Circuit Court, according to the sheriff’s office’s press release. Caban’s family had left Puerto Rico and moved to Florida in an effort to escape his enduring abuse. Nevertheless, Caban tracked them down, leading to a terrifying encounter in 2023.
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The family agreed to meet Caban at a motel in Labelle. On January 3, 2023, Caban insisted on seeing his family again, as noted in a probable cause arrest affidavit. They met in a grocery store parking lot, where Caban and his wife got into a dispute. As the wife attempted to leave with their children, Caban intervened by removing the keys from the car’s ignition.
Caban took control of the car and “said he was going to destroy the vehicle and kill everyone,” the affidavit said. His wife tried to jump out of the car but Caban bit her in the face. They proceeded to drive across several counties. At one point, Caban drove to a rural area and stopped the car. He ordered everyone out and threatened to kill all of them if they did not do so, the affidavit said.
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Next, he grabbed a tire iron and beat his wife. Caban ordered everyone back in the car and started driving again. He also threatened to drive to Home Depot, where he would buy a shovel so he could bury their bodies after killing them. When his wife started receiving phone calls, he stopped the car and buried her phone in the ground in the middle of a citrus field.
The wife then “tricked” him into driving them to the shelter where she had been staying so she could grab some personal documents. Once there, she sought help. Collier County Sheriff’s deputies responded and rescued the family. They arrested Caban
“This case is a stark reminder of the dangers victims of domestic violence can face,” Sheriff Kevin Rambosk said. “I commend the victim for her courage and quick thinking in the face of great danger. I also want to thank our deputies and partnering agencies for their rapid, coordinated response that brought this family to safety and helped bring a violent offender to justice.”
