Pursuit ends in arrest

A man wanted for rape, kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon was arrested at gunpoint in Newhall on Friday after deputies staked out a fast food restaurant upon learning the suspect threatened to show up there to kidnap his victim, sheriff’s officials said.

A 27-year-old man was arrested near 15th Street in Newhall shortly before noon. Sheriff’s officials said they declined to release the man’s name because doing so could hinder the investigation.

“On Monday night, there was a rape in Santa Clarita,” Lt. Leo Bauer of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station said.

“He (suspect) was wanted for kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon charges and for a multitude of other crimes,” he said.

“He informed his victim that he was going to kidnap her from work,” Bauer said.

Once deputies learned of the threat, they moved in on the McDonald’s restaurant on Valencia Boulevard and Bouquet Canyon Road.

“We scooped up the victim and set up a stakeout,” Bauer said.

“The people at work already knew he was coming,” he said.

When the suspect arrived at the restaurant, he took off in his car, traveling south on Railroad Avenue.

The suspect reached speeds of 65 mph, until he arrived at 14th Street where he turned right.

“It was a pursuit,” Bauer said, noting that it led deputies onto 11th Street and onto Newhall Avenue near 15th Street, where the suspect was ordered out of the car, and to lie face down on the ground.

The suspect was handcuffed and is expected to be booked on suspicion of committing several crimes, including rape and kidnapping.

Austin Dave/The Signal (See additional photos at signalscv.com) (Above) Detective Elliot Uribe and Deputy Jonathan Wilson search a white Toyota Celica as Deputy Javier Guzman makes his way to the front of the car after a pursuit ended on Newhall Avenue at 15th Street near Hart High School on Friday. (Below) Detective Daniel Finn secures a man suspected of leading sheriff’s deputies on a pursuit through Bouquet Junction on Friday.

Austin Dave/The Signal Detectives and sheriff’s deputies debrief at the end of a pursuit on Newhall Avenue south of 15th Street near Hart High School on Friday.