Kidnap Victim Rescued During Traffic Stop

[Willowdared]

Police rescue kidnap victim, 75, during traffic stop

By Debbi Baker
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM
9:36 a.m. December 10, 2008

EL CAJON – Thanks to a traffic stop and some alert cops, a harrowing two-day ordeal is over for a 75-year-old La Mesa woman who was kidnapped from her home and held hostage in the back of a station wagon. Two of her suspected abductors are in custody.
The woman had been severely beaten and bound with duct tape and kept in the Dodge Magnum with no food or water since Monday night, said sheriff's Sgt. Mark Varnau.

“They simply just kept her completely hostage in the back of that car,” the sergeant said.

Two men have been arrested and police are looking for a young woman, who may be a teenager.

Sheriff's deputies tried to pull over the speeding car in Lakeside about 12:20 a.m. Wednesday, Varnau said. The driver sped off and ran a red light, and a short pursuit ended when the car pulled over near Tangerine Street and Bluebell Way, Varnau said.

A man and a woman who were passengers ran away; the driver got out and followed commands to get on the ground, but ended up getting away. Both men were later arrested; one was found in the neighborhood, while the other was at a home in Lakeside.
El Cajon police officers arrived, open the back hatch of the car and found the woman inside. She had duct tape around her wrists, hands, mouth and neck.

“Her face was severely swollen from being beaten,” Varnau said.

She told deputies a man, who had previously been at her house selling a vacuum cleaner, returned about 10 p.m. Monday. The man said he had just broken up with his girlfriend and asked to use her phone, and she let him in, the detective said.

But then, Varnau said, “he put his arm around her neck and choked her until she was unconscious.”

The man then tied the woman up with duct tape and went through the house looking for things to steal, the sergeant said. He then dragged her to her car and put her in the back, then covered the car and left her there, the detective said.

Sometime later, the woman told deputies, the car was driven to a gas station where she chewed through the duct tape and screamed for help. No one heard her. The man and the woman proceeded to beat and punch her in the face several times, Varnau said.

The woman was taken to the hospital Wednesday, where she was able to give deputies a detailed account of her ordeal.

“She's a very strong 75-year-old,” Varnau said. He could not detail her injuries, but she is expected to make a full recovery.

Authorities have not released the woman's name, nor the names of the two men who have been detained.

Deputies are trying to determine the motive for the crime and what the kidnappers planned to do with her.

A shovel was also found in the car, Varnau said.

[jmur5074]

Wow


Those coppers will want to preserve that memory like nuts for winter. Stuff like that don't happen every day.

[Jenna]

Great work!

[Buttercup]

Good work by the officers and I'm glad the victim is expected to make a full physical recovery.

[Rhino]

One thing you didn't hear on that traffic stop: "Hey, why don't you stop harrassing me and go arrest some real criminals?"

[Captain America]

Atta boy, San Diego County S.O. and El Cajon P.D. The shovel thing didn't sound too good.

[Willowdared]

The victim had not been reported missing either, so there was no flag on her vehicle.

I think I'm gonna have to make some special cookies for those guys.

[Caveman]

And it all started with a traffic infraction....
Now had this been my department, and most in my area, per policy we would not have been able to pursue.
I guarantee had this been me initiating the pursuit, the first thing from my sgt. over the radio would be "what are the charges?" My answer would unfortunately be "At this point Traffic."
His next reply immediately would be "TERMINATE."
I'm glad these officers weren't bound buy unfortunate pursuit policies such as mine and many other departments.

[Captain America]

And it all started with a traffic infraction....
Now had this been my department, and most in my area, per policy we would not have been able to pursue.
I guarantee had this been me initiating the pursuit, the first thing from my sgt. over the radio would be "what are the charges?" My answer would unfortunately be "At this point Traffic."
His next reply immediately would be "TERMINATE."
I'm glad these officers weren't bound buy unfortunate pursuit policies such as mine and many other departments.

That serves to point out the stupidity of such a blanket policy. Local goverments are so worried about liabilty issues that they forget what we are here for. Tragedies do happen from pursuits , but they occur because the suspect made the decision to run. It is the suspect who should be held civilly and criminally responsible for the results of his decisions.Ted Bundy and Timothy McVay were both arrested as a result of street cops enforcing traffic laws. That is just a few examples. Lock enough people up for 20 years for running from the police and you'll decrease the problem.

[SPD]

I just passed that on to my whole PD. Our supervisors are very pursuit-shy nowadays and this might give them food for thought. Probably not - but there's a slim chance.

[Pinki]