A mother whose 4-year-old was being abducted chased down the suspect, crashing her vehicle into his car. This crash led to a massive manhunt, which ultimately led to the arrest of suspect, David Hernandez,Albuquerque police said on Thursday, as reported by the Associated Press.
A group of teenagers saw the young girl being "kidnapped" while she was playing at St. Anthony's Plaza, an apartment complex. The family called 911. The mother was notified and proceed to quickly jump into her car, and gave chase to the kidnapper for about seven miles, news reports said.
She had been unaware that the kidnapper had already pushed her girl out of the Silver Buick before fleeing the apartment complex, authorities said. The young girl was found wandering about, and was uninjured, police reports said.
When Melissa Torrez rammed her car into Hernandez's car, he fled on on foot. She told a news media outlet that she did not have any intention to hit him, but lost control of her vehicle.
"I don't ever want to lose my kids," Torrez later said.
The massive manhunt on Wednesday led to "more than dozen officers [who] went door-to-door in the area looking for the suspect. A helicopter with heat-sensor cameras also sent in for the search," authorities said.
Police soon found and arrested David Hernandez on Thursday afternoon. After being interviewed by police, he was charged with kidnapping. Hernandez later told reporters that he was innocent.
Police are also investigating a possible connection to the abduction and sexual assault of a 6-year-old from the same apartment complex last week.
