Sketch Issued of Suspect in Kidnapping

Police released a composite sketch Wednesday of one of two men being sought in connection with the Feb. 8 abduction and killing of Woodland Hills resident Christopher Rawlings.

Rawlings died of injuries suffered when he was ejected from the trunk of his Bentley after it crashed into a telephone pole during a police chase. The kidnappers escaped.

The man depicted in the composite drawing is an African American in his 20s, with medium complexion and very short black hair. He is 5-foot-10 to 6 feet tall, weighs about 160 pounds and suffered injuries during the accident, said Los Angeles Police Det. Rick Swanston of the West Valley Division.

The second kidnapper also is described as an African American male in his mid- to late 20s, 5-foot-10 to 6 feet tall and weighing 200 pounds.

Police are also searching for a 1994-98 emerald green Ford Mustang with a tan convertible top that is probably being driven by one of the fugitives, as well as two Rolex watches stolen from Rawlings.

Police on Wednesday provided a detailed chronology of the kidnappers’ escape.

Rawlings was returning home from a nearby grocery store when two men confronted him in his garage, police said. Rawlings’ wife, Barbie, found the two men attacking her husband, gathered their two small children and ran to the roof of the house, where she called police on a portable phone.

The two men entered the house for about two minutes, Swanston said, taking a blue-faced Rolex watch, valued at about $15,000. They also took from Rawlings’ wrist a gold Rolex with diamonds on the face, valued at about $25,000, his wallet and money he had on him, he added.

The men realized that police were on their way by listening to a scanner they had with them, which police found at the crash site, Swanston said. The men stuffed Rawlings in the trunk of his Bentley and fled as police were arriving. In a high-speed pursuit, the Bentley crashed on Tampa Avenue, ejecting Rawlings from the trunk. He died two days later.

One robber crossed Tampa and fled west, Swanston said. The other robber, depicted in the police sketch, fled in the opposite direction to Calvert Street and Wilbur Avenue, where he offered two motorists $1,000 to help him escape, the detective said. When they refused, he continued to Wilbur and Erwin Street, where he stole a Mazda belonging to Maria Vasquez and one of her credit cards.

He later abandoned the car on the Maclay Street exit of the Foothill Freeway.

Before carjacking the Mazda, the robber apparently tossed Rawlings’ wallet into a nearby bush, the detective said, leaving Rawlings’ money and picture ID inside. The wallet was recovered by police two days later after a witness called to report that a man was searching for something in the bushes in the middle of the afternoon.

Swanston said detectives are still investigating whether Rawlings’ death was related to the alleged telemarketing scam that federal authorities say he was running before he was killed, but so far there is no evidence linking the two.

Rather, it appears that Rawlings’ watch and $250,000 Bentley enticed the two men to follow him home from the supermarket, the detective said.

“It’s a fancy Rolex. It’s a top-of-the-line Rolex. It speaks of luxury all around,” Swanston said.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the kidnappers.

“The people of Los Angeles face an ongoing threat to their safety as long as these felons remain at large,” said the motion offered by Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski.

Swanston said there is evidence suggesting that the same men also robbed movie producer Daniel H. Blatt at his Sherman Oaks home two weeks before the Rawlings robbery. The same type of ski mask was found at both scenes.

“These are professional robbers,” he said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the West Valley homicide unit at (818) 756-8546 during the day or (213) 485-2504 at night or on weekends.

Times staff writer Patrick McGreevy contributed to this story.