A parolee accused of abducting and assaulting a Jurupa Valley girl at gunpoint within days of being released from prison was charged Monday with kidnapping and other offenses.
Ismael Lopez, 21, was arrested Wednesday night following a Riverside County sheriff’s investigation that began five days earlier.
Along with the kidnapping count, Lopez is charged with false imprisonment, committing lewd acts on a minor and making criminal threats.
He’s being held in lieu of $210,000 bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside and is slated to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Nathan Padilla, the alleged abduction happened on the night of June 28 in the area of Mission Boulevard and Riverview Drive in Jurupa Valley.
Padilla did not disclose all the details, alleging only that the victim, identified in court documents as a girl under 14 years old, was taken by the defendant at gunpoint and assaulted at an unspecified location.
When Lopez was distracted, the victim escaped, fleeing to a convenience store and calling 911, Padilla said.
He said detectives obtained security surveillance videotape from the area where the abduction happened and eventually confirmed the identity of the alleged assailant, who is a documented member of an area street gang.
Sheriff’s anti-gang task force investigators obtained an arrest warrant and located Lopez on 54th Street in Jurupa Valley, where he was taken into custody without a struggle.
According to Padilla, the defendant has been out of state prison for just two weeks. He has prior convictions for gang activity, carrying a concealed weapon and receiving a stolen vehicle.