Kidnapping Case Unravels as DA Finds Alleged Plot to Ambush Suspects
One suspect pleads no contest in exchange for probation; Another gets two years in jail
Editors note: we updated the story to reflect Plascencia’s sentence including the violation of probation on prior cases. December 8, 2025 10:06 p.m.
An alleged kidnapping and sexual battery reported in October in Fort Bragg unraveled into something entirely different when the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case ahead of a preliminary hearing.
Instead of a kidnapping, prosecutors say they uncovered a plot to lure the alleged perpetrators to a location with the intention of assaulting them.
“There were figures with weapons approaching them. They fled the area in fear of their lives,” Assistant District Attorney Eloise Kelsey told the judge at a hearing Monday as she explained why the DA’s office was dismissing kidnapping and battery charges against Jose Francisco Plascencia, 25, and Douglas Kenneth Hance, 45. Kelsey also dropped a charge of preventing or dissuading a witness by force or threat.
The DA’s account stands in dramatic contrast to a press release issued by the Fort Bragg Police Department on Oct. 21, 2025. According to the release, the kidnapping was reported at 11:04 p.m. Police said two men forced a woman into a white sedan near the 700 block of North Main Street and fled the area.
Officers located the vehicle nine minutes later. Plascencia and Hance were detained and “the victim was rescued and taken to a safe location,” police said. Investigators determined the woman “had been forcibly pulled into the vehicle, threatened at gunpoint, and sexually assaulted,” according to the release.
Both Plascencia and Hance were on probation. Plascencia had been charged with misdemeanor domestic battery on June 28, 2025, and with attempting to purchase a firearm on May 20, 2023, while prohibited from doing so due to a temporary restraining order. Hance had been charged with assaulting a man on Aug. 10, 2024, with a specialized paintball gun used for law enforcement training.
A search warrant executed Oct. 22 at Hance’s residence in the 900 block of John Cimolino Way yielded a large quantity of marijuana, controlled substances, a short-barrel rifle, ammunition, and drug-sales paraphernalia, according to court records. Officers also found a 10-year-old child with access to the drugs and firearms. The child was released to Child Protective Services.
A second search warrant served on a storage unit in the 18000 block of State Route 1 turned up an improvised “zip gun” shotgun, a modified .22-caliber firearm, ammunition and an improvised suppressor.
Plascencia pleaded no contest to possession of a firearm by a felon. Hance pleaded no contest to possessing oxycodone — or counterfeit oxycodone — for sale, possessing a short-barrel shotgun, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
As part of the plea deal, Plascencia will serve two years in state prison. Other charges in the case will be dismissed. Hance agreed to two years of probation, with execution of a five-year sentence suspended, provided he complies with probation terms.
Formal sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5.
Neither Fort Bragg Police Chief Eric Swift nor Commander Jon McLaughlin were available for comment.
So what FBPD reported was false? Yikes. That's a turnaround. Our police dept. needs to do better. Hopefully, our new chief will follow up and investigate how the info got so sideways.