‘Finder’ of Two Boys Charged With Kidnaping in Both Cases : Crime: Police say witnesses have reported seeing him with the children during time they were supposed to be missing. The defendant, at first called a hero, pleads not guilty.

A 31-year-old day laborer who was hailed as a hero for finding a missing 4-year-old boy, but then came under suspicion by Los Angeles police after recovering a second child four weeks later, was charged Tuesday with felony kidnaping in both cases.

Enrique Lopez Palma, 31, was charged with two counts of kidnaping a child under the age of 14 and two counts of child stealing. Palma, who has previously identified himself as Enrique Palma Lopez, pleaded not guilty to all counts.

If convicted, Palma faces a possible sentence of more than 13 years in state prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. David R. Lopez, the prosecutor handling the case. Palma is being held at the Los Angeles County Central Jail on $100,000 bail.

Palma came to the attention of police Dec. 5 when he claimed to have found 4-year-old Matthew Vera at Broadway and 6th Street, two days after the boy had vanished from the Downtown Greyhound bus station. Palma was proclaimed a hero and received hundreds of dollars from sympathizers for his good deed.

But Palma became the subject of an intense police investigation after he recovered 3-year-old Andrew Rodriguez on Jan. 5, nine days after the boy had disappeared from a Downtown video arcade. Palma was questioned extensively by detectives about both cases, but he was released because there was not enough evidence to charge him.

Asked by reporters after his release about skepticism that the same man could find two missing children in four weeks, Palma said: “It’s only bingo--good luck.”

Police said that because of news media coverage, a number of witnesses came forward in the last few days who said they had seen Palma with Matthew at several locations, including a homeless shelter in Santa Monica, during the time the child was missing. On Monday night, investigators got a call from a woman who said she had seen Palma with Andrew the day he disappeared.

Lt. Louis Trovato said the woman, whom he did not identify, had been given a ride to Chula Vista by someone she met at the bus station, and that the same person also picked up Palma and the boy. Trovato said that the woman got out of the car in Chula Vista and did not know what happened to Palma or the boy after that.

Trovato said the woman had called police last Friday after seeing pictures of Palma on television. But he said police had been flooded with hundreds of phone calls from potential witnesses and had not had time to check her story.

“She called back last night and talked to one of our detectives,” Trovato said. “We went and saw her and showed her pictures (of Palma) and she positively identified him. She said, ‘Hey, that’s the guy.’ ”

Lopez, the prosecutor in the case, said Palma’s motive was not clear. Neither child was harmed, authorities said.

Police said Palma was arrested in March, 1987, on suspicion of lewd behavior with a child under the age of 14, but was never charged.

Palma was arrested Sunday in San Diego as he attempted to cross the border into Mexico, police said. Border Patrol agents were questioning him about his immigration status when they discovered that a fugitive warrant had been issued for his arrest by authorities in Juneau, Alaska.

Palma was convicted there in 1989 on a charge of petty theft, authorities said. Police said Palma was arrested again in 1991 and convicted on charges of attempted bribery of a police officer and for attempting to take an officer’s gun.

Palma was later deported to Mexico but, after a police officer saw him last October in Juneau in violation of his probation, a warrant was issued for his arrest, said Richard Svobodny, an assistant district attorney in Juneau. Los Angeles police said they had had trouble tracking Palma’s criminal history because he has used a number of aliases.

Prosecutors said Palma would not be extradited to Alaska until his case in Los Angeles is resolved.

“Obviously, the charges in California are much more serious,” Svobodny said. “If California wants to go first with its case, that’s no problem.”