Kidnap Attempt Ends at Police Station; 2 Shot

An attempted kidnaping of a man, a woman and a newborn baby ended outside the police station in the city of Orange on Saturday when the suspected kidnaper shot the man and a police officer shot the gunman, police said.

The suspect and victim were in guarded condition in hospitals, Orange police Sgt. Art Romo said. The woman and the baby were not hurt.

Details of the kidnaping were sketchy. Police said the incident began about 3 p.m. in Riverside, when Nelson Preves, 45, of Santa Ana, was driving a pickup truck, with Esines Rodriguez, 23, of Orange, and Rodriguez’s day-old infant boy in the passenger seat. They were confronted by four Latino men in a small gray car, Romo said. He said there was an argument over a drug dispute.

The suspect, Emilio Sitt Garcia, 19, of Santa Ana, who police said had a .45-caliber automatic handgun, ordered Preves to drive to Santa Ana and jumped in the back of the pickup, Romo said.

But Preves drove instead to the Orange police station.

Rodriguez, holding the baby, jumped out and ran toward a motorcycle police officer, who was about 10 feet away. Garcia jumped from the bed of the truck into the cab, where he wrestled with Preves, and the gun went off, wounding Preves in the chest, Romo said.

The officer saw the gun in Garcia’s hand and fired several rounds, at least one of which struck him, Romo said.

Times staff writer David Reyes contributed to this story.