2 Suspects Seized in Knifepoint Kidnaping of College Cellist

Two men sought in the kidnaping of a cellist at El Camino College were arrested Tuesday by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.

The suspects--Francisco Morales, 26, and Jose Trujillo, 23--were taken into custody after deputies from the sheriff’s Lennox station matched them with composite sketches of the alleged abductors that were passed out during the morning roll call, Deputy Bill Wehner said.

They were being held without bail on suspicion of abducting 23-year-old Lynne Marie Carlucci, a UCLA student who plays the cello in the El Camino College Symphony.

She was abducted by two men, one armed with a knife, who forced her into her car in the college’s parking lot at Crenshaw and Redondo Beach boulevards in Gardena about 1:20 p.m. Sunday.

With Carlucci in the passenger seat, the kidnapers drove throughout the night, all the while telling Carlucci they would not harm her, deputies said. The abductors made several brief stops, once to purchase beer and once when they forced Carlucci to cash a $50 check, officers added.

Carlucci was freed unharmed at 5:45 a.m. Monday, said Sgt. Kraig Petersen.

Morales, a transient, was arrested by deputies about 8:15 a.m. Tuesday as he walked in the 10800 block of Condon Avenue in Lennox.

After gathering leads on the second suspect, deputies arrested Trujillo about 2 p.m. at a Lawndale garage that doubled as his home.

Neither man offered any resistance, officers said.

The suspects are expected to be arraigned by Friday, Petersen said.

The sergeant said deputies were investigating whether the pair was involved in a similar abduction near the El Camino College campus in October. No determination had been made.

In that incident, a 34-year-old woman was forced at knifepoint into her car by two men, driven around the South Bay area, forced into a van and sexually assaulted before being released.