Man Is Held After Allegedly Striking Woman, Taking Child

A 29-year-old man turned himself in to police Thursday after driving off with his former girlfriend’s 3-year-old son, authorities said.

Adan Molina Rivera of Orange was being held at County Jail on suspicion of false imprisonment, domestic violence and child stealing, California Highway Patrol Officer Angel Johnson said.

The boy, who was not identified, was reunited with his mother, Maria Barerra, 32, of San Bernardino, at the Orange Police Department. He was not injured, police said.

About 12:30 p.m., a motorist at a call box on the Riverside Freeway between Weir Canyon and Gypsum Canyon roads told the CHP that he had just seen a fight between a man and a woman in a car on the shoulder of the freeway.

Less than a minute after receiving the call, Johnson said, a CHP patrol car spotted the woman, who had a split lip, walking along the shoulder, and picked her up.

Ten minutes later, Rivera arrived at the Orange Police Department.

“The guy drove here, walked in holding the kid’s hand and turned himself in,” Orange Police Lt. Timm Browne said. “We called CHP.”

Browne said the CHP officer took the child’s mother to the police station, where she and Rivera were interviewed. Rivera is believed to be the ex-boyfriend of the woman, but the child apparently is not his, Browne said.