Teen awaiting trial on suspicion of attempted carjacking, kidnapping outside LCF grocery store
More details have emerged in the case of an alleged gang member who attempted to steal a vehicle at the La Cañada Ralphs grocery store Friday night with a woman and her 8-year-old daughter still inside.
Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station Capt. Chris Blasnek told the La Cañada Flintridge City Council in a meeting Tuesday that Jose Darwin Quintanilla, 19, of Los Angeles was at Men’s Central Jail awaiting trial on charges of assault with a deadly weapon (hands), attempted carjacking and attempted kidnapping.
“The D.A. filed charges this morning,” the captain told council members.
Lt. DeMarcus Smith, a watch commander for the Crescenta Valley Station, said the original call came in Friday at around 7:40 p.m. indicating an altercation, possibly an incident of domestic violence, was taking place in the grocery store parking lot.
By the time deputies arrived on scene, however, they discovered an “extremely intoxicated” man had entered the victim’s car and assaulted her in an attempt to steal it, according to Smith.
“He jumped inside and assaulted the victim by hitting her and pushing her to the side,” the watch commander said Saturday. “[The victim’s] 8-year-old daughter was in the backseat at the time.”
The woman’s vehicle, a Mercedes SUV, had been running when the man entered it, and in his effort to leave, the suspect pressed the starter button only to have the vehicle stop. Meanwhile, customers and store employees in the vicinity heard the victim screaming and came to her aid, according to the sheriff’s report.
“[The suspect] stepped out of the car and did not attempt to leave. We arrived and detained him,” Smith said.
Blasnek said Quintanilla told deputies he’d been riding with other people on the Foothill (210) Freeway when they engaged in a physical altercation. They pulled over the vehicle between the Angeles Crest Highway and Gould Avenue off-ramps and allegedly assaulted him before kicking him out of the vehicle.
Highly intoxicated, Quintanilla walked to the Ralphs parking lot, where deputies believed he may have been looking for a way to get home. Upon his arrest, deputies discovered the 19-year-old was on probation for a previous stolen vehicle charge and had a $100,000 misdemeanor warrant for his arrest issued in San Bernardino County.
“It could have happened anywhere along the freeway,” Blasnek said of the incident. “It just happened to be here on the 210 between ACH and Gould.”
The female victim was taken to USC Verdugo Hills Hospital and treated for minor injuries she sustained during the incident, according to a sheriff’s report. Blasnek said Tuesday Quintanilla was also taken to the hospital to be deemed fit for booking after having sustained injuries from the people he’d been riding with on the freeway.
Twitter: @SaraCardine
