{"id":5114,"date":"2026-07-21T23:37:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5114"},"modified":"2026-07-21T23:37:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T23:37:39","slug":"hayward-resident-accused-of-using-machete-to-kidnap-man-after-romantic-encounter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5114","title":{"rendered":"Hayward resident accused of using machete to kidnap man after romantic encounter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HAYWARD \u2014 A local resident has been charged with kidnapping for allegedly holding a man hostage with a machete until the victim went to an ATM and paid for his own release, court records show.<\/p>\n

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Police say the February incident started with a Facebook request, followed by a consensual romantic encounter between the two men. They say both the suspect and victim gave remarkably similar statements with one notable difference: The suspect claimed he\u2019d been offered money for sex but the victim declined to pay, according to court records.<\/p>\n

Now the suspect, Juan Rivera Ayala, 27, of Hayward, is facing charges of kidnapping to commit robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. He was arrested and charged in June, and remains jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, records show.<\/p>\n

The alleged victim told police the two men met up for a February date after meeting on Facebook. After their encounter, he said Rivera Ayala brandished a machete and raised it above his head as if he was about to swing it, then forced the man to withdraw money from an ATM in Hayward.<\/p>\n

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Police tracked Rivera Ayala down through his Facebook account, and found him attending a domestic violence class from an unrelated criminal case, court records show. When detained, Rivera Ayala allegedly admitted to everything, including forcing the ATM withdrawal at machete-point.<\/p>\n

But Rivera Ayala insisted that he was just trying to get what was owed to him, according to police; he said the alleged victim declined to pay him, so he took the man\u2019s phone and used the machete to force him to settle up.<\/p>\n

The preliminary hearing has been set for mid-August, records show. Rivera Ayala pleaded not guilty. On June 30, Judge Mary Ann O\u2019Malley denied a prosecution motion to reduce his bail to $40,000, records show.<\/p>\n

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The suspect allegedly admitted to the kidnapping, but claimed it was because the victim failed to pay him for sex as agreed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHayward resident accused of using machete to kidnap man after romantic encounter - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=5114\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hayward resident accused of using machete to kidnap man after romantic encounter - 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