Pair Arrested in Abduction and Car Theft : Crime: Woman is uninjured after two men ram her auto, briefly kidnap her and then lead police on a 60-mile chase before crashing in Oceanside, police say.
A Placentia woman was abducted and freed late Tuesday by two suspected gang members who then fled in her car, leading Fullerton police on a 60-mile chase along two Southern California freeways at speeds exceeding 100 m.p.h., police said.
The suspects were arrested Wednesday about 1 a.m. in Oceanside after they crashed the red 1990 Honda CRX that they had stolen from the 20-year-old victim, authorities said. The woman, whose identity was withheld, was not injured, police said.
Arrested on suspicion of auto theft, robbery, kidnaping and evading arrest were Robert Castanon, 20, of Lynwood and Ricardo Lopez Hernandez, 18, of Moreno Valley. The two, who were not injured, are being held in Orange County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.
The abduction took place in Yorba Linda after the two men, who were in a stolen 1982 Dodge Colt, intentionally rear-ended the victim in her Honda, police said.
“It’s hard to say if they were stalking her. . . ,” said Detective Dave Coovert of the Brea Police Department, which patrols Yorba Linda. Coovert said that both suspects were members of a gang in Lynwood.
The pair may have singled the woman out because she was driving alone in a deserted area, police said. The accident took place at Imperial Highway and Bastanchury Road.
“The natural response of most people when you get hit is to see what the damage is,” said Lt. Tom Christian of the Brea police. “When you turn your back to look at the damage, you are being robbed.”
When the woman got out of her car, one of the men pushed her to the ground and told her to restart the Honda. After she did that, Castanon allegedly ordered the woman into the passenger seat and drove off with her in the car. The other suspect followed in the Dodge, which police said was reported stolen Tuesday in Lynwood.
The two cars were driven through Placentia and Brea for about 10 minutes and were stopped for gas at a service station in Fullerton about midnight, where the suspects freed the woman and and drove off together in the Honda, police said.
The woman called Fullerton police, who spotted the Honda on Harbor Boulevard near the Riverside Freeway. With Fullerton police pursuing, the Honda occupants fled west on the Riverside Freeway then south on the Santa Ana Freeway at speeds reaching 115 m.p.h., police said.
The suspects left the freeway at the Oceanside-Harbor exit and crashed near the front gate of Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps base.
Police said the suspects stole a Shell gasoline card and $3 from the victim.
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