Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : AT THE SCENE : Kidnaping Suspect Arrested After Shootout

Warren James Bland, a convicted sex offender suspected in the kidnaping and slaying of 14-year-old Wendy Rachelle Osborn and 7-year-old Phoebe Ho, was shot and captured in San Diego.

The arrest occurred last Monday in San Diego after a police detective recognized the 1970 Toyota Carolla that Bland is suspected of having stolen from a 73-year-old Long Beach woman. When the officer confronted Bland at a taco stand, Bland reportedly tried to flee and the officer fired, shooting him in the buttocks.

Bland’s arrest ended one of the most intensive manhunts in Southern California history.

Wendy Osborn vanished Jan. 20 on her way to school in Placentia. Her body was found Feb. 1 in Chino Hills.

Phoebe Ho of South Pasadena disappeared Dec. 11 while walking to school. Her body was found in a remote Riverside County area Dec. 18.

San Bernardino detectives investigating Wendy Osborn’s death hope to collect evidence from the Toyota. Carpet fibers and microscopic paint chips discovered on Phoebe Ho’s body were later matched to a van that had been driven by Bland, investigators said.

Both girls had been sexually assaulted, apparently tortured with pliers or a clamping-type tool, and then strangled, authorities said. At the time of the crimes, Bland, 51, was on parole after being convicted of molesting an 11-year-old Torrance boy, whom he had tortured with pliers.

Bland has an extensive record of rape and child molestation dating back to 1960, and has spent 21 of the past 26 years either in prison or in state mental hospitals.

Detectives also want to question Bland about the disappearance of April Ann Cooper, a 7-year-old girl last seen playing at Woodchuck Camping Resort in southeastern Riverside County. She was reported missing Dec. 13 by her mother.

Wendy’s father, Jack Osborn, said he felt relief that Bland had been caught, but emphasized that Bland has not officially been linked to Wendy’s death.

“I do not espouse a view of hatred because I believe that hatred destroys the person who hates more than it destroys the person who is hated,” Osborn told reporters after Bland’s arrest last week. “Our daughter has been murdered by somebody. And for me to hate her murderer is only going to continue to destroy our family.

“The only thing that I focus on, is the problem . . . (of) parole violators who have shown a history of violent crime against the society in which they live and continue to be free . . . continue to be let out of prison to come and prey again on society.”

Osborn said he intends to become “a voice” against the California penal system that allows “our prisons to become a rotating hotel for criminals.”

After the capture, Bland was moved from San Diego to a Riverside hospital where he was in good condition.