Kidnapping Suspect Is Arrested in San Diego

A Santa Ana man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of kidnapping his former girlfriend and their 4-year-old son and driving them to San Diego, where both were found unharmed.

Antonio Acosta Hernandez, 28, was taken into custody about 7 p.m. by Santa Ana police officers who saw him in a car and ordered it pulled over, said Cmdr. Charles Deakins of the Santa Ana Police Department. Inside were Cristina Silva, 27, and the couple’s son, Brian Hernandez.

The arrests followed an early-morning SWAT team action in a Santa Ana neighborhood that included the evacuation of about 1,200 students at a nearby elementary school.

Details of the arrest were sketchy. Deakins said he didn’t know what had drawn the detectives to San Diego. “Somehow they located the guy,” he said, “I don’t know how.”

Hernandez, Silva and their son were expected to return to Orange County late Tuesday or early today, Deakins said.

The incident began about 4 a.m., when police were called to a house in the 2200 block of South Flower Street following reports that Hernandez, who has a restraining order restricting him from coming within 100 yards of Silva and her son, had stormed into her bedroom and held them at knifepoint, Santa Ana Police Sgt. Lorenzo Carrillo said.

A SWAT team surrounded the home and, after about four hours, Carrillo said, police barged into the house and found it empty.

Silva and her son were living at the home of her sister, Yvonne Oliveira. Oliveira’s husband, John, said he, his wife and their three children hurried out of the house when he heard Silva screaming at Hernandez.

When officers arrived, they evacuated the neighborhood and Washington Elementary School across the street.

“It was scary,” said Sunny Pascual, 47, who lives next door. “I mean, we were still sleeping.”

The SWAT team used a bullhorn and tried to talk to Hernandez on a cellphone they tossed into the home. About 8:40 a.m., officers entered the home and found no one inside.

The incident unfolded as parents were dropping off their children at the school. About 300 students were evacuated to nearby Esqueda Elementary School, and the rest went home.

Police say they have responded to at least two other domestic violence calls involving Hernandez and Silva.

On Feb. 6, the day an Orange County judge granted custody of the child to Silva, Hernandez assaulted her, Carrillo said.

Silva sought and was granted a restraining order protecting herself, their son and seven family members. Three days later, Hernandez abducted Silva and brought her to his home, but she escaped, Carrillo said.

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Times staff writers Sara Lin and David Haldane contributed to this report.