Couple Help CHP Apprehend Kidnapping Suspect, Rescue 5-Year-Old Girl

A man wanted on suspicion of kidnapping a 5-year-old Van Nuys girl was arrested Monday morning after a couple recognized his van from news reports, called authorities on their cell phone and then followed the vehicle until CHP units arrived.

According to the California Highway Patrol, the arrest of Raul Rodriguez near Fresno and the safe return of Joanna Lopez might never have happened were it not for the efforts of Michael and Colleena McHugh, who were driving on Interstate 5 on Sunday to their Bay Area home after a weekend visit to Los Angeles.

“On the way home we stopped by a restaurant at the Grapevine and saw the story in the newspaper,” said McHugh from his home in Belmont, a suburb south of San Francisco. “I said to my wife, here’s a full description of the van and the license plate. When we get back on the road, let’s look out and see if we spot it.

“I’m not making this up,” McHugh said, “but about a hour later, we’re on the freeway and we come upon a white minivan with the same license. Unbelievable.”

After spotting the van about 9 p.m., Colleena McHugh called the CHP, and a dispatcher asked the couple to continue following the van until CHP officers could take over.

The couple kept the van in sight for about 40 miles, McHugh said.

To avoid being detected, they occasionally pulled off the road at overpasses and then quickly got back on the freeway to resume the chase.

About 10 p.m. CHP officers spotted the van and began a 35-mile chase at speeds of more than 90 mph, said CHP spokeswoman Jennifer Palmer.

Officers slowed Rodriguez by using a spike strip--laid across the northbound freeway lanes--to puncture the van’s tires.

Rodriguez continued to drive for about a mile, but his van veered across the median and struck another van traveling southbound, causing minor damage to both vehicles, but not injuring anyone, the CHP spokeswoman said.

For nearly three hours, CHP officers and Fresno County sheriff’s deputies engaged in a tense standoff with Rodriguez about 50 miles south of Fresno, Palmer said. Authorities surrounded the van and closed down the freeway.

Rodriguez, looking exhausted, was finally talked into surrendering by a Spanish-speaking officer, said CHP Sgt. Billy Mitchell.

The girl was taken to University Hospital in Fresno for observation. She was released later Monday and reunited with her mother.

“The best thing, of course, is that the girl looked great,” Mitchell said. “She was a bit scared at first because all of the commotion, but we gave her a little doll and that made her feel very comfortable. She’s a great little girl.”

Rodriguez, 36, is being held in Los Angeles on suspicion of kidnapping, evading arrest and child endangerment, according to a Los Angeles police spokesman.

Police said Rodriguez was well-known in the 6600 block of Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys, where Joanna lived with her mother, Delmi Estrada. In exchange for a place to sleep or food, he often worked as a handyman for residents.

Estrada, 24, who said she had known Rodriguez for a year, described him at a news conference Saturday as a “grandfather figure,” someone she thought she could trust with her daughter.

But Rodriguez apparently betrayed that trust Friday night when he allegedly took off with Joanna, who had asked her mother if she could accompany him on an errand about 10 p.m.

Mitchell described finding Joanna unharmed and apprehending the suspect as “extremely fortunate,” and the McHughs’ actions as heroic.

“They’re great citizens,” he said. “They took it upon themselves to be diligent and alert, and what we have because of that is a happy, healthy little girl reunited with her mom.”