Man charged in kidnapping at Kissimmee Target, deputies say

Gabriel Rene was previously named person of interest

Gabriel Rene is accused of kidnapping a woman at gunpoint at a Kissimmee Target.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. – A man who was previously identified as a person of interest in a kidnapping at a Kissimmee Target has been charged in connection with the crime, according to the Osceola County Sheriff's Office.

Gabriel Rene, 22, was arrested on active warrants less than two days after a woman was kidnapped at gunpoint from a Target store in Kissimmee, driven around for hours going to ATMs and looking for additional victims and then beaten before she was taken back to the store on West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway.

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Deputies said after the April 14 arrest that Rene was a person of interest, not a suspect in the case.

Records show Rene had several active warrants related to other kidnapping cases in the Osceola County area, including a carjacking near Osceola Regional Medical Center on March 17.

During the criminal investigation into the Target kidnapping, another woman stepped forward and told deputies that she was kidnapped in the same Kissimmee shopping area on March 8, according to a news release.

Deputies announced Friday evening that charges of kidnapping, robbery, armed burglary to an occupied conveyance, aggravated battery and sexual battery had been filed against Rene in connection with the Target kidnapping on April 12 and the similar incident on March 8.

Rene is facing 21 charges total, jail records show.


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