Kidnapping, Rape Suspect Arrested

An Azusa army veteran wanted since last week after he allegedly kidnapped and raped a 12-year-old female relative was captured Thursday when he tried to check into the mental health ward at a Veterans Affairs hospital, authorities said.

Gary Noller, a 36-year-old man with a history of mental illness who told his victim that he wanted a SWAT team to kill him, was arrested early Thursday morning at the VA Medical Center in Los Angeles by federal officers after relatives tipped off authorities, said Glendora Police Cpl. Timothy Staab.

Noller, being held on $500,000 bail, is scheduled to be arraigned today on charges of kidnapping, lewd acts with a child and rape.

Last Friday, authorities said, Noller went to the 12-year-old girl’s house and persuaded her mother to allow him to take the girl to the high school football game because his entire family was going. Soon after the pair left, the mother found out that no one in the family was planning to go to the football game and she notified police, Staab said.

Noller and the girl were not seen again until early Saturday morning when a police officer at the VA Hospital asked him to move his illegally parked car.

An angry Noller refused, telling the officer there was a bomb in his car and asking “Are you afraid to die?” police said. During the confrontation, the girl escaped and then Noller drove away. Four hours later, his car was found abandoned and burned in an isolated area of Lakeview Terrace. The girl told Glendora detectives that she had been raped.