A man who tried to kidnap a girl walking with her blind father in Huntington Park this week was arrested after another kidnapping attempt in San Diego County, officials said Thursday.
Elijah Lopez, 24, followed and forcibly grabbed the 6-year-old with her father in Huntington Park on Tuesday, San Diego County sheriff’s officials said, citing a wanted flyer circulated by the Los Angeles Police Department.
The following day, a San Diego County sheriff’s deputy who’d seen the flyer spotted a man matching the suspect description from the flyer in Escondido, at the corner of Highway 78 and Broadway, the department said.
Lopez was wearing the same clothing described in the LAPD crime alert when Deputy Brian Umali detained him, authorities said.
While Lopez was being taken into custody, officials say a bystander flagged Umali down and told him he’d seen Lopez following a juvenile.
The victim escaped by going into a grocery store for help, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Lopez is being held in L.A. County, where inmate records show he remained in custody Thursday on $150,000 bail.
LAPD and Escondido police are continuing to investigate.
