Kidnapping suspect arrested in Burbank mall movie theater after search

A kidnapping suspect who fled into a parking structure at the Burbank Town Center on Friday afternoon was taken into custody inside a movie theater at the mall, authorities said.

The suspect was arrested about 12:30 p.m., they said.

Earlier in the day, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Community Station had advised the public to avoid the area near Burbank’s Ikea, across the street from the mall, as officers searched for the suspect.

He was described on the station’s Twitter account as a 5-foot-10 male with a blond mohawk.

The suspect, who was driving an Acura, led police on a chase on the 5 Freeway and on surface streets near Sunland, said an officer in the Foothills station.

He was tracked to the mall, where officers with the LAPD and the Burbank Police Department set up a perimeter.

Television news footage showed police vehicles lining the streets around the mall and its parking garage.

Officer Jack Richter, an LAPD spokesman, said the Thursday kidnapping was a domestic violence incident, and the suspect and the female victim were both 21 years old.

The woman was safe and was being interviewed by police, said Officer Rosario Herrera, a spokeswoman for the LAPD.

Nearby Burbank High School was on precautionary lockdown Friday afternoon as police searched for the suspect.

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