Merced man arrested in Connecticut kidnapping case from 2015
A Merced man has been arrested in an alleged 2015 kidnapping case in Connecticut.
Levi Caudell, 43, was taken into custody on Wednesday at the Merced County Sheriff’s Department, according to police in Putnam, Conn.
Police detectives from the Putnam Police Department extradited Caudell back to Connecticut. It was the sixth and final arrest related to the alleged kidnapping, Putnam police said in a news release posted on Facebook.
According to the news release, Caudell was charged with the following:
- Assault in the first degree
- Kidnapping in the first degree
- Cruelty to persons
- Threatening in the second degree
- Reckless endangerment in the first degree
- Conspiracy to commit assault in the first degree
- Conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the first degree
Caudell was held on a court-set bond of $500,000, Putnam police said.
The victim of the alleged kidnapping, a male who was 29 years old at the time, reported that he was assaulted by several people and forcibly transported to a state park in Rhode Island, where he was left.
The victim suffered significant injuries and was hospitalized, Putnam police said.
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
