Posted on 11/12/2004 7:05:47 AM PST by rd1tx
Possible Kidnapping Caught on Tape Friday, November 12, 2004
CORONA, Calif. — Two men were caught on a mall's security camera as they chased a woman through a parking structure, then grabbed and stuffed her into the trunk of a car.
Nearby shoppers seemed to notice the apparent abduction, but none attempted to stop it.
Police on Thursday were still trying to determine the identities of the woman, believed to be in her 20s, and two men involved in the Sunday evening incident at the Corona Discount Mall.
The woman's videotaped reaction upon seeing the men suggested she knew them.
Detective Frank Zellers said the incident was being investigated as a kidnapping.
"It's very discouraging right now and it's really difficult for us, because we don't know who the victim is," he told KCAL-TV. "And it's obvious that some kind of crime occurred. We don't know who the suspects are and who the victim is."
The department had received several calls from witnesses and others in recent days, but had no solid leads, Officer Jesse Jurado said. He said investigators had not yet ruled out the possibility that the incident was a hoax.
A security camera with a view outside the front of the mall recorded the scene as the woman walked from a parking lot to the sidewalk outside the entrance.
When a black Toyota Solara raced up and braked, the woman looked over her shoulder at the car and took off running into a parking structure with the vehicle in pursuit.
Despite a fuzzy videotape image, the woman can be seen running down a parking aisle as two men jump out of the Solara and chase her. One man threw the woman over his shoulder, carried her back to the car and put her in the trunk, which the other man had opened.
A security guard at the mall heard the woman yelling for someone to call the police as she was being stuffed in the trunk, Jurado said.
A handful of shoppers visible in the foreground of the scene appeared to turn their heads and watch the incident. In addition, several motorists drove through the scene.
The car's right front tire was a smaller, spare donut-type tire, police said.
Corona is a Riverside County city of 138,000 about 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
Did the guy actually have a gun? 9-11 is definately different in other parts of the country then.
Seriously... Oklahoma City 911.
Well, I for one, will not leave a mall or any other place alone when it is dark outside. I always either find a male employee to walk me out or I will wait for a few minutes by the door and exit with a group of people who are headed in the same general direction in the parking lot as I am. This is a recent development for me as a lady was kidnapped/car jacked here locally after leaving Walmart alone.
I would have kept calling back, otherwise I would have filed a complain about her and lack of judgement, and strict adherence to the rules.
After looking at the picture of her running..I am wondering why she didn't run into the mall??!
That's the other thing.... my ATT cellphone doesn't support 911. You have to call an operator and request 911 in oklahoma city... then hope they connect you to the emergency line, because the first time didn't. By the time I hung up on the lady, the ordeal was pretty much over.
That's dangerous. I wonder how many places don't have enhanced 911 and how many cell phone companies do that? I have Cingular and they're pretty good over here.
To show you how bad it is getting, at least in Kalifornia, there were some young drivers speeding around our neighborhood endangering the kids playing nearby. We called the police which in this case is the CA Highway Patrol. The speeders were long gone by the time the officer arrived but he informed me that I should confront these law breakers in the street with a 2X4 and if that does not stop them to, get this, throw the lumber through the car's windshield as it drove by! Not that the thought of assulting these dumb-a** kids has never crossed my mind, I told him that I thought he was kidding when he wisely (?) informed me that if the neighbors stick together and claim that "We didn't see a thing" it would all work out to our benefit. He argued, "That's what the criminals do, why can't you?" I was shocked to say the least. So far no wood throwing incidents have been required.
Sorry, but I see no young woman in the upper right corner of the image.
BLUE STATE Bump!
I live near this mall and I am unaware of the parking structure they speak of. The "mall" in question is actually one large store in a row of shops converted to a bunch of individual kiosks inside. The clientel of this "mall" is low end and most of the shop owners are oriental.
Corona is not a "crime infested barrio", and is actually for the most part pretty upscale and generally considered more of a bedroom community. There are areas in the older part of the city where a criminal element is more likely, but as housing prices increase they are being forced out.
That having been said, it amazes me how people will watch this go on and do nothing, I would have done something and do not understand this attitude.
My cell phone has the 911 feature and it works here, I also wonder why this woman did not go into the mall where there are a lot of folks generally.
I don't know the answer.
How could you possibly have known that the 911 operator was a black female? Do you have a picture phone? Bigot! </sarcasm>
thanks for the info. I guess she panicked and didn't think about doing that :(
The police there must not watch CSI.
The investigators on that show would simply use computer enhancement of the license plate on the front of the car and bag the bad guys.
Ooops! That'd be too quick. They'd find out the guys were bounty hunters for a bonding company and had a legal right to capture her--but then she escaped and...well, you get the idea.
Gee, wasn't that what the Taliban insisted upon? Here they have CHOICE!
Edmund Burke
Sorry, the edit marks removed "friend"; I meant to isolate it, not delete it!
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