KERSEY, Colo. -- A 22-year-old Kersey woman, her father and two friends have been arrested and accused of kidnapping and beating her ex-boyfriend and demanding a $1,000 ransom from his family, police said.

The girlfriend, Chauvanna Gesick, is in jail on suspicion of assault, kidnapping, extortion, robbery and menacing. Her bond is $50,000, the Greeley Tribune reported.

Two Greeley men -- Russell Knapp, 44, and Robert Groves, 39, -- have been arrested on suspicion of the same crimes charges as Gesick, and their bond is set at $40,000 each. Chauvanna's father, Stephen Gesick Sr., was arrested Wednesday in Adams County and is awaiting transportation to the Weld County Jail, the Tribune reported.

Kersey Police Chief Pat Carey said he worked for days building the case and contacted the Greeley police gang unit because of the suspects' alleged ties to gangs in Weld County.

What's called the biggest crime to hit the 1,445-person town in recent history began two weeks ago when the woman called the unidentified ex-boyfriend, a Greeley resident, and told him to pick up his belongings from the Kersey apartment they shared before the breakup, according to court records cited by the Tribune.

The man told police that when he arrived at the apartment, the woman was there with three men, including Stephen Gesick.

The men allegedly beat the ex-boyfriend, saying he should not have been "disrespectful" to Chauvanna Gesick, according to court records cited by the Tribune. After they took the man's wallet with $30 in cash, his identification and the keys to the car he was driving, they demanded $1,000 in cash.

When the man said he didn't have the money, one of the men replied, "You better call your family and get it or we are going to beat ... you and put you in a pine box," according to court records cited by the Tribune.

The man told police he then called his sister in Fort Morgan and cried as he told her she needed to pay the ransom or they would kill him. When the sister told the alleged kidnappers she couldn't drive the money the 45 miles to Kersey, they forced the man into a car and — in two vehicles — drove to Fort Morgan.

Once in Fort Morgan, according to court affidavits, the alleged kidnappers tried to bump the ransom to $1,500, but agreed to the original $1,000, according to court records.

The sister gave them the $1,000 cash, but then Stephen Gesick allegedly beat the victim again, and gave him a bullet from his gun, saying: “This is the bullet I was going to kill you with tonight," according to the Tribune. They then released the man, throwing his cell phone at him as they drove away.

The victim called Fort Morgan police, who later found him walking through the town. He told them his kidnapping story, and gave them the bullet.

Police said they expect to make more arrests.