Ex-Boyfriend, 2 Men Held in Woman’s Abduction at Gunpoint

Los Angeles police arrested a Sylmar man and two friends Sunday in connection with the kidnaping at gunpoint of the man’s former girlfriend.

Savino Cano, 22, and Jose Martinez, 20, both of Sylmar and Maria Artiga, 22, of North Hollywood were arrested at a Sylmar motel about 10:30 a.m., about eight hours after they forced Cano’s former girlfriend out of a carload of friends, said police Sgt. Rich Brown.

The kidnaped woman, whose name was not released, was unharmed, police said.

Brown said the woman was on her way home from her job as a waitress at the Rancho Grande Bar in Pacoima with three friends just after 2 a.m. when their car was forced off the freeway onto an off-ramp by a car carrying Cano, Martinez and Artiga, who had handguns.

The three men had harassed the woman at the bar earlier in the evening, Brown said.

Brown said the women’s car, which was traveling south on the Golden State Freeway, pulled off at Osborne Street. Cano and Martinez went to the car and grabbed Cano’s former girlfriend, who was sitting in the passenger seat, and drove off, he said.

The other women reported the incident to police, and gave them a description of the car and a license plate number.

Officers Cleo Semerena and Joseph Penrod found the car parked at the Golden Star Inn Motel in the 12100 block of San Fernando Road in Sylmar.

All three men were arrested on suspicion of kidnaping and assault with a deadly weapon. Bail for Cano, who was being held at the Foothill Division Jail, and Artiga, who was at the Van Nuys Division Jail, was set at $16,000. Martinez was at the Foothill Division Jail in lieu of $26,000 bail.