THE SAFETY ZONE: ACTION LOG

The Times publishes a weekly roundup of crime news from across Orange County. The log appears each Monday as part of the Safety Zone page and represents selected items compiled throughout the week. Readers can receive daily incident reports for more than a dozen communities by signing onto https://www.latimes.com/safety. From there, readers will be linked directly to cities that post crime logs on the Internet.

BUENA PARK

* Artesia Freeway and Beach Boulevard: A Cypress man arrested on suspicion of falsely reporting that his two daughters had been kidnapped has been released on bail, La Palma police said.

Samuel Cammarano called La Palma police Tuesday from his car to report he was following a vehicle containing two men who had just kidnapped his daughters, authorities said.

Police conducted a “high-risk” stop on the car, which was driving east on the Artesia Freeway at Beach Boulevard.

The two girls, 15 and 8 years old, were found unharmed in the car. An investigation revealed that the men in the car were employees of the girls’ mother, who had sent the men to pick up her daughters, authorities said.

Cammarano told investigators that he was involved in a custody battle with his ex-wife, and that he falsely reported an abduction so he could take custody of his children, police sid.

The two girls were released to their mother at the La Palma police station. Cammarano was booked and released on $500 bail, authorities said.

COSTA MESA

* Bristol Street at Paularino Avenue: Two women and two men were arrested Sunday in connection with two botched carjackings, authorities said.

The first attempted carjacking was reported at about 3:30 a.m. at the corner of Bristol Street and Paularino Avenue.

A 27-year-old woman was sitting in her car at a red light when she was approached by a woman who demanded her car. A man stood in front of the car and pointed a handgun at the victim, authorities said.

The victim threw her car into reverse and sped away from the two. The man shot twice at another car, driven by a friend of the victim, that had pursued the victim’s car after the carjacking attempt, authorities said. The bullets struck the car’s trunk, and no one was injured.

About an hour later, the same would-be carjackers approached a 36-year-old woman sitting in her car near the intersection of Baker Street and Airway Avenue, authorities said.

A man pointed a gun at the victim and demanded her car. She refused and screamed. One of the man’s accomplices convinced him not to shoot the victim, authorities said. The carjackers fled on foot, authorities said.

Police from Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Irvine searched for the carjackers along with Orange County Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers.

The suspects were arrested without incident at Bristol Street and Irvine Avenue in Newport Beach. The gun used in both carjacking attempts was found abandoned nearby. All of the suspects were booked into Orange County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. They are identified as Veronica Rose Zabala, 23, of Rialto; Natalie Zabala, 20, of Rialto; Hector Bautista, 28, of San Bernardino; and Jose Ricardo Espinoza, 19, of Rialto.

HUNTINGTON BEACH

* Pacific Coast Highway: Police are still searching for a man suspected of kidnapping and robbing the manager of a Mobil gas station in the 17000 block.

The 41-year-old manager left the station at about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday carrying a bag of cash to deposit in the bank. She was confronted in the parking lot by a man who claimed he had a gun, authorities said.

The man told the manager to drive him to Seal Beach. The robber told the woman to stop at a shopping center at the intersection of Seal Beach and Westminster boulevards, where he took the money bag and fled on foot, authorities said.

The man is described as black, 5 feet 8 inches, 130 pounds with acne on his face. He was last seen wearing a light-colored baseball cap, sunglasses, black jeans and a dark, long-sleeve shirt, Lt. Luis Ochoa said.