A 38-year-old homeless man suspected of drunkenly grabbing a 15-year-old girl Monday in the parking lot of a Canyon Country strip mall was arrested after bystanders came to her aid.
Deputies responded to an attempted kidnapping call in the 18300 block of Soledad Canyon Road where the girl said the suspect, who she didn’t know, approached and tried to start a conversation and asked for her personal information, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
[symple_googlemap title=”Canyon Country attack” location=”18300 Soledad Canyon Road, Los Angeles, Ca” height=”300″ zoom=”13″]
The suspect, who investigators identified as a transient named Santos Martinez, then asked the girl if he could kiss her, officials said.
“The victim tried to avoid the suspect, but he persisted,” according to a sheriff’s department statement. “Suddenly, the suspect grabbed the victim by wrapping both arms around her upper torso.
“The suspect then started pulling (and) dragging the victim northbound through the parking lot. When the victim began yelling for help, bystanders came to her aid, prompting her release.”
Witnesses directed deputies to an alley where the suspect, who appeared to be intoxicated, was arrested without further incident, the sheriff’s department reported.
Martinez was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and child annoyance. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail and is due in court in San Fernando on Wednesday, according to the sheriff’s department.
–City News Service