A suspect stole a friend’s pickup truck with the victim’s 7-year-old son inside Thursday afternoon in the Mid-Wilshire area, according to police and the boy’s father.
The vehicle was taken about 2:50 p.m. in the area of Wilshire Boulevard and Orange Grove Avenue, near the Petersen Automotive Museum in the Miracle Mile area, according to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.
The pickup truck, a gray 2001 Chevrolet Silverado, left the area eastbound on Wilshire Boulevard, Officer Tony Im said.
It was later found on Elm Drive in Beverly Hills, but the suspect and boy were not immediately located, police said.
The suspect later took the child to the LAPD’s Wilshire Station and the boy was reunited with his father, Im said.
The suspect — identified as 25-year-old Nicky Jace — was arrested and will be booked on suspicion of carjacking and kidnapping, Im said.
The father told ABC7 that the suspect, who was his friend, punched him in the head and took the truck with the victim’s son inside.
The boy’s father told the station he stopped to get something to eat, which angered the suspect, who claimed he had business to attend to, leading to the alleged battery, theft and kidnapping.