Hawthorne Kidnapping Story Is Called a Ruse

When a Hawthorne man reported that his pickup truck with his 3-year-old nephew still inside had been stolen early Sunday, Hawthorne police immediately deployed a team of detectives to find the kidnapped boy and recover the truck.

They issued a media alert asking for the public’s help in finding a little boy in jeans and a red, white and blue shirt. They were trying to get pictures of the missing child to release to television stations and newspapers.

Less than four hours later, the truck was found parked on a street in the unincorporated community of Lennox--a rather quick recovery for a stolen vehicle.

And Hawthorne police say that is just what 23-year-old Miguel Barajas had counted on.

Barajas made up the story of the nephew’s kidnapping, police allege, so that they would launch a fast, all-out effort to find his truck.

“It’s a pretty low-handed way to expedite the search and recovery of this stolen vehicle, especially when the purported victim is a 3-year-old,” said Hawthorne police Sgt. Victor Valdez. Police “deployed and activated an entire detective team to come in--that would be a supervisor plus [a] two- or three-man team. It warrants that much follow-up with a potential kidnapping.”

Barajas was arrested on suspicion of making a false report of an emergency, and was being held in lieu of $10,000 bail, said Hawthorne police Lt. James McInerny. Police asked for an emergency bail enhancement hearing to raise the figure to $100,000 “due to the seriousness of the crime,” McInerny said.

Barajas allegedly broke down and admitted the fabrication after intense questioning by detectives turned up inconsistencies in his story.

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Valdez said detectives are still uncertain about many of the details surrounding the incident, and want to talk to family members to make sure that no child is in fact missing. They now also have questions about the veracity of other elements of Barajas’ account of the truck theft.

According to Barajas’ account to police, he was about to prepay for gasoline for his 1990 Nissan pickup truck at about 6 a.m. Sunday when he was approached by a stranger.

The stranger told Barajas he had just gotten out of jail, according to authorities, and would pump his gas for some change. Barajas apparently agreed, but added that he took his keys with him when he walked away, evidently to pay for the gas.

Nevertheless, he said the stranger was apparently able to start the truck and drive away with his nephew inside.

The truck was spotted by a police officer at about 10 a.m. in Lennox, Valdez said. But their search did not turn up a child, he said.

Detectives then re-interviewed Barajas for more details--standard procedure for such a serious crime. It was then that his story began to break down, Valdez said, and he admitted that he had made up the part about his nephew.

The truck thief, meanwhile, was still being described as Latino, 18 to 20 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with a thin build and short brown hair. He wore a dark pullover sweatshirt and baggy brown pants, police said.