EAST LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A man who allegedly forced a woman he was dating into a vehicle at gunpoint as she attempted to board a Montebello Transit bus was arrested May 23, and the woman was located safe and uninjured, authorities said.
Angel Flores, 24, approached a woman from behind at about 8:40 p.m. Monday in the 3800 block of East Third Street as she attempted to board the bus, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reported.
The bus driver tried to intervene on the woman’s behalf but the suspect broke a window on the bus and retrieved a handgun from a nearby four-door vehicle described as possibly a white 2022 Honda Civic, authorities said.
Flores allegedly pointed the weapon at the bus operator and coerced the woman inside the car before driving away, sheriff’s deputies said. The vehicle was last seen heading east on Third Street to the eastbound Pomona (60) Freeway and out of view.
Investigators used surveillance videos from nearby businesses and from the bus, along with other investigative resources, to identify Flores as the alleged kidnapper.
Flores was arrested by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) Newton Division several hours later on suspicion of driving under the influence, sheriff’s deputies said. He was taken to the LAPD’s 77th Street Division jail, where he was interviewed by detectives from the sheriff’s department.
Investigators learned that during the arrest, a replica firearm was recovered from Flores’s vehicle that resembled the weapon used during the reported kidnapping, the sheriff’s department said.
Deputies located the woman a short time later, safe and uninjured, sheriff’s officials said. She told detectives that she was in a dating relationship with Flores. However, it’s not clear what led up to the reported kidnapping.
Flores was booked on suspicion of kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, and vandalism.
Anyone with information about the case was urged to call the sheriff’s tipline at 562-946-7893, the East Los Angeles sheriff’s station at 323-264-4151, or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
