Santa Ana : Couple Charged With Kidnaping 3-Year-Old
A 3-year-old Tijuana girl has been reunited with her parents in Santa Ana after being kidnaped and held for $200 ransom, police said.
Jose Lopez, 43, of Santa Ana and Maria Huerta, 31, of San Diego were in Orange County Jail on Saturday booked on suspicion of kidnaping for ransom, Police Lt. Bob Jordan said. Bail for both suspects was set at $250,000.
Jordan said police believe that the girl was abducted in Tijuana on Thursday and taken to Santa Ana without the knowledge of her parents, whose names were not released. The alleged kidnapers then notified the child’s mother and demanded $200 for her, Jordan said.
The father of the girl, he said, contacted a foot patrol police officer in downtown Santa Ana. A coordinated effort between downtown foot patrol officers and neighborhood officers resulted in the arrests of Lopez and Huerta late Friday in the 900 block of East Pine Street, Jordan said.
Police could not confirm where the parents live.
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