O.C. Kidnapping Suspect Is Killed in Getaway Car

Santa Ana police shot and killed a kidnapping suspect in his getaway car -- with his alleged victim inside it -- after he collected $1,200 in ransom from her family and was trying to flee, authorities and relatives said Wednesday.

The unidentified suspect died at the scene, said police Sgt. Lorenzo Carillo. The 23-year-old woman, who police said was kidnapped several hours earlier from her workplace, was unharmed in the shooting, which occurred just before midnight Tuesday, Carillo said. Police withheld the name of the woman because of concern that possible accomplices to the kidnapping could be at large, he said.

He offered few details about the incident, including the shooting, but said the shooting was being investigated internally to determine if it occurred in accordance with department policy. It was also being investigated Wednesday by the Orange County district attorney’s office, which investigates all officer-involved shootings.

The incident unfolded in a neighborhood near Jerome Park in central Santa Ana.

The woman’s parents called police about 11 p.m. Tuesday, saying a man had called them, demanding a ransom for the return of their daughter, Carillo said. The family negotiated a ransom of $1,200, a brother said Wednesday. Then, police said, the man said he would come to their home to get the money. With that information, police moved in and waited, Carillo said.

A man arrived at the parents’ house shortly before midnight driving the woman’s car, police said. What happened next -- and why the woman stayed in the car -- was unclear, but as the man drove away, officers stopped his vehicle, Carillo said. Some neighbors said the vehicle had crashed into a parked pickup.

In the ensuing confrontation, an officer shot into the car. Carillo said the woman later told police that the man was armed, but Carillo said Wednesday that investigators had not confirmed that.

On Wednesday, Inez Garcia, 18, said she heard the crash, followed by sirens and gunshots.

Lupe Magana, another resident in the neighborhood, said she heard five to seven gunshots. After the immediate commotion, she said, she went outside and saw the woman’s car, which had crashed into the pickup, boxed in by two police cars.

Carillo said department policy permits officers to fire at or from moving vehicles as a last resort in self-defense or in defense of another person. If a vehicle is used as deadly force, the policy reads, “a firearm is not likely to stop the assault and is discouraged unless it reasonably appears to the officer that there are no other viable alternatives.”