Man Is Arrested in Alleged Threat to Kill Daughter, 3

A Fullerton man was arrested Friday after an alleged threat to kill his 3-year-old daughter sparked an Amber Alert, which authorities said resulted in a driver spotting him and notifying police.

Scott Allan Hessenauer, 41, was taken into custody about 5:15 p.m. in front of the same house in the 9400 block of Houston Avenue from which he had left with his daughter, Kelly, 3 1/2 hours earlier, officials said.

The girl was returned unharmed to her mother, with whom Hessenauer had once shared the house.

“He abducted her against the mother’s wishes and said he was going to kill himself and the daughter if she called police,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Lloyd Downing. “It was highly probable that he would have followed through.”

The mother -- who authorities said is Hessenauer’s estranged girlfriend -- notified the Sheriff’s Department, which initiated the alert.

About 90 minutes later, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said, an off-duty firefighter driving on the Santa Ana Freeway in Anaheim recognized Hessenauer’s car after seeing its description and license number on an overhanging electronic message board.

“He called the California Highway Patrol,” Amormino said, “then followed [the car] until police arrived. Who knows where [Hessenauer] was going or if he would have come back? Once he saw several police cars behind him, he chose to drive back to his driveway.”

Hessenauer was being held at Orange County Jail on an outstanding warrant for child endangerment stemming from a Riverside County case. Officials had not determined whether to file new charges against him, Downing said.