Truck Hauling VCRs Hijacked, Driver Bound

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies Wednesday found a truck driver tied up inside the cab of his vehicle in Newbury Park, a few hours after robbers hijacked the truck and stole its trailer full of videocassette recorders, deputies reported.

Pedro Cardova of Long Beach had picked up a container of VCRs at the Port of Long Beach early Wednesday and was driving north on the Long Beach Freeway, when three men in a black Oldsmobile signaled that he had a problem with his truck, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

After Cardova pulled over to the side of the road, sheriff’s deputies said one of the men in the Oldsmobile forced his way into the cab of the truck by pointing a gun at Cardova.

Cardova was tied up and his face was covered by the gunman, the spokesman said. The gunman then drove the truck to an unknown location where the trailer with the container filled with VCRs was unhooked from the truck, the spokesman said.

One of the suspects then drove the truck to Newbury Park and left it near the intersection of Anchor Court and Rancho Conejo Boulevard, where Cardova was eventually found, the spokesman said.

The case is being referred to the Long Beach Police Department for investigation.