San Leandro police arrest suspect in brazen attempted kidnapping
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KGO) -- San Leandro police say they've arrested the man who attempted to kidnap a woman in July. They say the man drove all the way from Southern California to commit the crime before ditching his car and hopping on a plane to another state.
Police say the suspect did not know his victim and has no known ties to the Bay Area, making this case even more bizarre. Investigators are not naming the man arrested because more witnesses need to be interviewed. They say he left on a plane out of Oakland hours after committing the crime.
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"This is something that you would see in a TV crime drama," said San Leandro police Lt. Robert McManus
San Leandro police say it was here two months ago a man attempted to abduct a 23-year-old woman in daylight, grabbing her by her ankles and dragging her towards a car like a Nissan Sentra SR Edition with after market rims.
Thirty-one-year-old Yong-Sung Leal intervened. "I just see him bombing her in the eyes with pepper spray and dragging her into the back vehicle," Leal said.
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The suspect who San Leandro police say closely resembles the man in a sketch released by police, pepper-sprayed Leal as well before driving off. Leal and the woman got away.
Police say the suspect is from Orange County and has a violent criminal history. They say he was discharged from parole just 10 days prior to the alleged abduction.
"This is a stranger abduction. This is not someone that the victim knew. This is not someone that the victim had ever seen before and we have no information whatsoever as to what would lead this man up to the Bay Area," McManus said.
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Investigators say the case could have gone cold.
"What started the break in the case was that business owner in East Oakland that called us to report the abandoned vehicle, which looked identical to what he had seen on the news the night before," McManus said.
Search warrants at the man's Orange County home yielded physical evidence linking him to the crime, according to police. U.S. Marshals arrested the suspect outside California, though they're not saying where.
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"We want to ensure that nobody is ever subjected to a crime such as this by this man ever again," McManus said.
"We got him so that's good," Leal said.
The suspect is charged with felony kidnapping, carjacking and assault with a deadly weapon.
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