In Victor Pena kidnapping and rape trial, witness testifies he urged Pena to let victim go

BOSTON — Victor Pena’s arrest in Charlestown in January 2019 ended a three-day nightmare for a 23-year-old woman, who prosecutors allege was taken off the streets of Boston after a night of drinking and imprisoned in his apartment, where she was raped for days.

Pena is on trial at Suffolk County Superior Court, charged with kidnapping and rape.

On the stand, two retired Boston Police detective sergeants told the jury how they used the victim’s cell phone to track her to Pena’s apartment, and they spoke of the moment they rescued the victim.

“She was shaking, crying, had her arms clutched up to her face. She was disheveled, had a horrified look on her face,” testified retired Boston Police Det. Sgt. Michael Talbot.

“She had a blank stare on her face. Looked to me like she was in shock. She was just staring at me the whole time,” said retired Boston Police Det. Sgt. Garrett Mitchell.

During jury selection, Victor Pena committed a lewd act in front of a court Zoom camera, so he is not attending his own trial in person.

Meanwhile, using video surveillance camera images from the Faneuil Hall area, a prosecutor set the stage for how this case began.

A man named Marlon Roldan, speaking through an interpreter, told the jury he and Pena walked to Faneuil Hall from Downtown Crossing that night when they encountered the victim, alone and intoxicated.

‘Victor said hi, and she replied, hi,” Marlon Roldan testified.

Within minutes, video shows Pena putting his arm around the victim.

At some points she struggles to stand up, but Pena doesn’t let go.

Marlon Roldan said he urged Pena to let her go.

“I told him let’s keep going. Leave her there. And he didn’t listen, he continued going with her,” Roldan testified.

Victor Pena’s attorney is expected to mount a diminished capacity defense.

The victim herself is expected to take the stand on Wednesday.

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