VALLEY ROUNDUP : Pacoima : Kidnapped Man Freed After Police Pursuit

Police were searching Saturday for a third suspect in the kidnapping of a 23-year-old Pacoima man that led to a car chase across the Valley, a crash and a search by members of six law enforcement agencies. Two other suspects were arrested.

The kidnap victim, Juan Carlos Torres, received minor injuries when the car in which he was being held captive crashed into a garage, said Lt. Rick Papke of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division.

Torres was treated at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and released.

The incident began at 11 p.m. Friday when three armed men forced their way into a residence in the 13000 block of Pierce Street, fired a single shot from a handgun into the ceiling and took Torres away in their vehicle, Papke said. The motive for the kidnapping is not known, he said.

The vehicle was spotted four hours later by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies on patrol in Chatsworth. A pursuit followed that ended with the crash in Pacoima, at O’Melveny Avenue and San Jose Street.

Three suspects fled from the vehicle, in which Torres was found sitting in the back seat.

A search was conducted by officers from the Los Angeles, San Fernando and Burbank police departments, as well as Los Angeles Unified School District police, sheriff’s deputies and the California Highway Patrol.

Two suspects were arrested after the crash. Their identities were not released.