3 Brothers Arrested in Carjacking From Irvine Hyatt

Three brothers were arrested Sunday in connection with the hijacking of a car from the parking lot of a Hyatt hotel.

Taken to Orange County Jail and booked on suspicion of carjacking and assault were Barney Garibaldi Torres, 25; Lawrence Barney Torres, 32; and Adonis Barney Torres, 30, all of El Monte.

According to Sgt. Jim Lowder of the Irvine Police Department, the carjacking occurred about noon in the parking lot of the Hyatt Regency Irvine, 17900 Jamboree Road, when the brothers, accompanied by two other suspects, approached Andy Niizawa, 19, as he arrived for work as a valet at the hotel.

After ordering Niizawa to turn over the maroon 1990 Honda Civic he was driving, Lowder said, the five men “physically assaulted” him before fleeing in his Honda and their own older-model bronze Cadillac.

The Honda Civic was spotted by an Anaheim police officer about 40 minutes later traveling north on the Santa Ana Freeway at Beach Boulevard, according to Lowder. After pulling the car over, police arrested Barney and Lawrence Torres at the scene.

Adonis Torres, Lowder said, was arrested a short time later at his home in El Monte. The two other men suspected of being involved in the carjacking are still at large, the police spokesman said.

“This doesn’t happen often,” said Lowder, adding that Niizawa suffered minor injuries and had already retrieved his car from authorities. “Especially not at the Hyatt.”