Police Seek Partners in Kidnaping; Victim Safe

Inglewood police continued their search Wednesday for accomplices in the daylong kidnaping of a 20-year-old Inglewood man, who was found unharmed on New Year’s Eve hours after being abducted from his apartment.

The kidnaping ended on New Year’s Eve with two teen-agers arrested, one shot in a confrontation with police. At least two more are believed at large. The hostage was left bound but unharmed on an Inglewood street about a mile from his apartment, police said.

The kidnapers began demanding $100,000 ransom from the family of Lamonte Hewitt, 20, soon after abducting him about 4:15 a.m. Sunday from his Grevillea Avenue apartment. Investigators said they do not know why Hewitt was singled out or why the kidnapers set the ransom at $100,000.

Capt. James E. Seymour, who described the 16-hour hostage drama as “especially intense,” said, “It’s not like a normal police operation where we are in control.”

Hewitt was found about 8 p.m. when a resident of Covelle Avenue reported a bound man lying at the curb, police said.

The resident helped Hewitt remove duct tape from his mouth and eyes, which police said kept him from seeing his abductors. His hands were fastened behind his back with cheap handcuffs, and his ankles were taped. Police say the man may have been held in a motel sometime during the day, and the two arrested teen-agers were assisted by at least two others.

Police offered no motive for the kidnaping Wednesday, although Seymour said it may have stemmed from a personal grudge.

Police provided this account of the crime:

Deneyvous Hewitt, Lamonte’s 19-year-old brother, went to the police station at 6:40 a.m. to report the kidnaping. The kidnapers reportedly warned the family not to contact the police.

With police listening in, kidnapers spoke by phone with the family throughout the day. In the early evening, they established a drop-off point for the ransom in a parking lot at Century and Crenshaw boulevards.

After thoroughly cleaning the Hewitt family car to facilitate fingerprinting, police parked it at the drop site with a package inside and then hid.

A sedan with two teen-agers parked nearby. The passenger, who carried a sawed-off shotgun, went to pick up the package. Police officers emerged and shot him when he pointed the shotgun at them, Sgt. Harold Moret said. The suspect, hit once in the forearm, dropped the gun and got into the car, which drove off.

The car, which was stolen, struck another vehicle in the intersection and broke down about a block away at Crenshaw and Arbor Vitae Street. The driver, a juvenile whose name and age were withheld, stayed inside the car and was arrested. The passenger, a 17-year-old Ontario resident, ran from the car, prompting a police search with dogs and a helicopter. He was found hiding under a bush at the corner of 8th Avenue and Arbor Vitae.

The 17-year-old was treated at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital for a bullet wound to the forearm and minor dog bites suffered in the arrest, Lt. Jack Frazier said. He is being held in the jail ward at County USC Medical Center. His accomplice was in custody of juvenile authorities, police said.