Gwinnett County police are searching for two men suspected of forcing their way into a Duluth man’s home, tying him up and beating him before kidnapping him in his own car in July.
Authorities identified the suspects as Jian Sun, 41, of Norcross, and Stephen Carlos Valenzuela, 24, of Atlanta. Police said the man who was assaulted knew Sun prior to the alleged attack but did not know Valenzuela.
Gwinnett County Police Department
Gwinnett County Police Department
When Sun and Valenzuela released the victim after beating and robbing him, police said, it was with the expectation that he would meet with the suspects to pay them off the next day. The victim went to police instead, but investigators were not able to immediately arrest the suspects.
About three months after the July 29 incident, investigators have released photos of the suspects and are asking for the public’s help in locating them.
According to police, investigators met with the victim at the hospital on the day he was attacked. The man told police that Sun and another man, later identified as Valenzuela, had knocked on his door earlier in the day. When the man let them in, Sun and Valenzuela beat him up and zip-tied him, he told police.
The suspects then forced the man into the back seat of his car and drove him to an auto shop in Chamblee, police said. Sun and Valenzuela assaulted the man again in the new location, the victim told police. He said the men left him at the shop while they returned to his house and stole several items, though the police did not say what the men allegedly took.
The victim was released later that day and checked into the hospital.
Police said investigators were sent to both crime scenes and were able to identify the suspects, but Sun and Valenzuela remain at large.
They are both wanted on arrest warrants out of Gwinnett on charges of home invasion, armed robbery, aggravated assault, kidnapping and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Anyone with information about the case or the whereabouts of Sun and Valenzuela is asked to contact Gwinnett police detectives at 770-513-5300. To remain anonymous, tipsters may contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or visit stopcrimeATL.com. Crime Stoppers tipsters can receive a cash reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment in this case.
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