FINGERPRINTS LINK TEENAGER TO '02 CARJACKING ACCOMPLICE STILL BEING SOUGHT.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer LANCASTER - A Palmdale teenager is facing charges that he and an accomplice accomplice: see accessory. kidnapped a woman and her 2-year-old son at knife-point in a carjacking The criminal taking of a motor vehicle from its driver by force, violence, or intimidation. The u.s. justice department categorizes the crime of carjacking as a "completed or attempted Robbery of a motor vehicle by a stranger at a Palmdale Boulevard shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into parking lot. Deputy District Attorney Michael Blake said Andre Avalos, 18, has been linked to the April 2002 carjacking through fingerprints taken when he was arrested in an unrelated San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. vehicle-theft case. ``It was like a cold hit,'' Blake said. In the 2002 case, two carjackers forced their way into the woman's sport utility vehicle as she was getting into it, and then they made her drive them to the San Fernando Valley. When they passed a sheriff's patrol car, one held a knife to her son's throat and threatened to kill him if she alerted the deputy, investigators said. Before leaving her with the SUV in a San Fernando Valley alley, one carjacker found a paper with her address on it in the glove compartment glove compartment n. A small storage container in the dashboard of an automobile. Also called glove box. glove compartment Noun a small storage area in the dashboard of a car Noun , investigators said. He tore off the address, kept it and warned that he and the other carjacker would come and kill her family if she reported the crime, investigators said. Avalos, who was 17 when the crime occurred, has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping kidnapping, in law, the taking away of a person by force, threat, or deceit, with intent to cause him to be detained against his will. Kidnapping may be done for ransom or for political or other purposes. for the purpose of carjacking, child endangerment, carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon Assault with a Deadly Weapon is the term used to describe the act of threatening to harm one or more people by using a weapon (usually a firearm). Here, assault must be differentiated from battery as they are often confused. Assault is threatening to use force. , robbery, making criminal threats and intimidating a witness. Avalos was arrested last week. He was being held on $2.6 million bail and is scheduled to appear next week for a preliminary hearing. A second suspect has been identified and is being sought. Avalos and the second suspect have family in the San Fernando Valley area. ``They thought they could find an easy mode of transportation to where they wanted to go,'' Detective Steve Lankford said. Before fleeing, one of the carjackers took off his T-shirt and tried to wipe off fingerprints the two might have left in the victim's vehicle. ``Obviously they didn't do a good enough job,'' Lankford said. Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com |
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