By Ben Aguirre Jr.
Inside Bay Area (Ca.)
FREMONT, Ca. — A chase and five-hour manhunt in the Irvington District for three out-of-town kidnapping suspects led to two men being arrested and one bystander being assaulted in his home, police said.
Authorities on Monday evening said they still were looking for a third man who managed to elude police, despite a massive search that involved police dog units, the SWAT team and an East Bay Regional Park District helicopter, Fremont police Detective Bill Veteran said.
Fremont police began searching for the suspects about 1 p.m. after two sets of detectives from Redwood City asked for help in stopping a 2007 GMC pickup truck they had been following on Fremont city streets, said Veteran, spokesman for Fremont police.
DMV records indicate the truck is registered to a rental car company in San Francisco.
Redwood City detectives were following the truck near Blacow and Osgood roads before 1 p.m. and even tually chased it to Carol Avenue, near Roberts Avenue, in Irvington, a detective said.
The truck stopped at the dead end of Carol and two of the occupants immediately got away, Veteran said. Redwood City police arrested the third man before he could get out of the vehicle. Authorities also recovered several thousand dollars that had been left in the vehicle and dropped on Adams Avenue. It was not known Monday where the money came from.
The two fleeing men jumped over a nearby fence and ran into a neighboring condominium complex on Adams. There, they broke into a home and assaulted a homeowner who had just gotten there, Veteran said.
“They broke into the place trying to get away from us,” he said. “They then scuffled with the man and fled.”
The unidentified victim was not seriously hurt.
From there, the men split up.
Witnesses saw one man run to the shopping center at Five Corners and take cover in a dry cleaning business. He was arrested at gunpoint there minutes later.
The other man apparently hunkered down in the neighborhood for a brief time and last was seen about 3:30 p.m., Veteran said. But he managed to evade capture, even as more than a dozen SWAT team members and police dog units searched the train tracks in the area.
As that search went on, police cordoned off the area near Adams and Roberts avenues and did not allow residents to re-enter their homes until after 4 p.m.
Authorities continued to search the neighborhood and other parts of the city until about 6 p.m. before they called off the search for the evening.
The two arrested men were taken back to Redwood City.
Redwood City Police Capt. Chris Cesena had few details to add Monday evening, though he confirmed the kidnapping case involved a 45-year-old Redwood City man.
He added that the victim was “safe and sound.”
“He has been safe for quite a while,” Cesena said. “There’s no danger to him.”
Late Monday night, police issued a pree release with a few more details. It said that the victim’s wife called police Sunday morning to report that he was mssing, and it was learned that the man had been kidnapped for ransom.
Arrangements were made to drop money at a certain location, but according to the press statement, the money was never picked up, and the man’s captors released him unharmed several hours later. Then, they made a second demand for money, police said.
The victim then worked with police on a second money drop. This time the kidnappers picked up the money, and that triggered the pursuit across the Bay into Fremont
Police said the man still at large is Latino, in his late 30s or early 40s, and stands about 5 feet 8 inches tall. He last was seen wearing a white polo shirt with blue horizontal stripes, blue jeans and white athletic shoes. Although no guns were seen, police believe he may be armed.
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