2 Men Arrested on Suspicion of Cypress Kidnaping, Hijacking

CYPRESS —  Two Los Angeles men are being held on suspicion of hijacking a Cypress-based truck, kidnaping the driver and holding him for three days in a shed in Central California in a foiled effort to collect a “finder’s fee” from the truck owner, police said Thursday.

Police identified the driver, who was released unharmed, as 36-year-old Joseph Henderson of Coachella.

The incident began Oct. 25, after Henderson said he unloaded a supply of dinnerware at an Ontario discount store from his $25,000 truck, owned by System Reefer Service of Cypress. When he returned to his cab after eating dinner at an Ontario truck stop, a man was hiding behind his seat, claiming to have a handgun, according to Detective Douglas McManus of the Cypress Police Department.

Henderson said he was forced to drive north for a time, until he was blindfolded and placed in the back seat of a car driven by a second man.

For the next three days, McManus said, “they kept him in a shed in an unknown location, most likely in Stanislaus County,” feeding him only for the first two days.

Henderson said he was then driven back to Los Angeles and released, where he immediately contacted police. Police said they don’t know why the man was released.

System Reefer later called Cypress police to say they had been contacted by a person offering to reveal the location of the stolen rig, in exchange for a “finder’s fee,” McManus said.

Based on information from the suspects, authorities located the truck and trailer--in pieces--in Stanislaus County. A meeting was then set up at a Cypress motel for Wednesday of this week to pay the reward. At the motel, Cypress undercover officers arrested Michael Sims, 26, and Gregory Dixon, 25, both of Los Angeles, McManus said.