Updated 1/6/23 8:45am
Further investigation into Joseph Varvel, 25, of Manhattan, and Zane Thomas, 27, of Junction City, has led to our discovery of a separate incident on January 1, 2023, involving the same victim as the January 2, 2023, kidnapping on Gatlinburg Way in Manhattan.
Varvel and Thomas were reported to have held the 26-year-old male victim at gunpoint, and beat and strangled him while driving him around in a car against his will throughout the Manhattan area.
Both are charged with one additional count each of aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping, with Varvel also receiving one count of aggravated battery and Thomas also receiving one count of aggravated assault. Both remain confined in the Riley County Jail.
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These new charges bring bonds of $250,000 to both, raising each of their total bonds to $750,000.
Three men are in custody on charges tied to a reported kidnapping Monday on Manhattan’s north side.
According to the Riley County Police Department, 27-year-old Zane Thomas, of Junction City, 25-year-old Joseph Varvel and 21-year-old Cooper Brown, both of Manhattan were arrested on numerous charges including aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated battery.
Police were called out just before 8:30 p.m. to a report of shots being fired in the 500 block of Gatlinburg Way at the Links Apartments. A witness informed police that a shooting occurred, followed by a man being forced from an apartment into a vehicle.
Later that evening, the victim called 911 saying he needed help and was located in the 1200 block of Colorado Street. The man was transported to Ascension Via Christi for treatment of stab wounds and facial injuries.
Upon further investigation, police arrested the three men. Thomas and Varvel each remain jailed on $500,000 total bonds. Thomas additionally is charged with marijuana possession. Varvel is additionally charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm into an occupied dwelling and possession of cocaine. Brown remains confined on a $300,000 bond.
Police say the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
