Kidnapped Long Beach Woman Jumps From Speeding Car in Irvine
A Long Beach woman who was kidnapped for ransom escaped in Irvine by jumping out of a car going 50 mph, police said Wednesday.
The kidnapper abducted the woman from her home in the Naples area on Tuesday by pulling a gun and ordering her to drive her Range Rover south on the San Diego Freeway, Long Beach Police Cpl. Harry Erickson said.
She jumped out in Irvine, where a passing motorist took her to a doctor’s office, Erickson said. The victim, whom police would not identify, was later treated at a Newport Beach hospital for scrapes and released after an overnight stay, Erickson said.
The kidnapper, meanwhile, abandoned the Range Rover and took a taxi back to Long Beach, Erickson said.
But when he refused to pay for the taxi ride, a group of residents chased him and detained him near Anaheim Street and Temple Avenue. Long Beach police arrested Elton Anthony Forma, 47, on suspicion of kidnapping.
He was booked into the Long Beach City Jail, where bail was set at $500,000.
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