MS-13 member accused of kidnapping Tennessee high school student after refusing to join gang

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An MS-13 member who is in the country illegally has been accused of kidnapping a Tennessee high school student and beating him because he allegedly refused to join the violent gang.

Franklin Pineda-Caceres, an 18-year-old Honduran national, was arrested over the weekend after being involved in a car wreck in Nashville, according to reports Tuesday. Officers said they found a substantial amount of cocaine in his vehicle.

Tennessee federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged Pineda-Caceres with illegal reentry. He had been deported in May 2018 after being charged with drug crimes, authorities said. He had first entered the U.S. illegally in 2014.

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Pineda-Caceres’ accuser was a student at Glencliff High School, Fox 17 Nashville reported.

Court documents say Pineda-Caceres pressured the student to join the notorious gang in January, according to the station.

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When the student refused to become an MS-13 member, Pineda-Caceres and two other individuals forced him into a vehicle and then beat him, the station reported.

Police began investigating the case in April and tried to apprehend Pineda-Caceres in July.

He was able to get away then in a Chevrolet Camaro, driving through the front yard to avoid police vehicles and nearly striking his girlfriend, her mother, and his infant son, according to Fox 17.

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He abandoned the vehicle after evading police.