Los Angeles police released a composite sketch Tuesday of a suspect in a kidnap-for-robbery incident earlier this month in downtown Los Angeles.
Detectives with LAPD Central Division arrested Erika Orenday last Friday in El Monte in connection with the kidnapping-robbery of a 46-year-old jewelry store employee, said Lt. Paul Vernon
Her accomplice is decribed as a Latino man in his late 20s or early 30s, who goes by the name “Pacho,” and wears a goatee and closely-cropped hair, Vernon said. The suspect is known to cross over the Mexican border frequently, police said.
According to police, the victim was leaving her job in the jewelry district March 5 around 6 p.m. when Orenday, a former employee, approached her car and told her she had information about her children, but did not elaborate.
When the victim let Orenday in her car, she allegedly called the accomplice. The victim was tied up and put in the backseat while the two suspects drove to one or more motels, Vernon said.
He said the suspects told the woman they had accomplices with her children and that the children would be harmed unless the woman paid them.
When the suspects realized the woman’s children were not at home, they left the victim in a motel room, Vernon said. The woman, who was not injured, reported the crime the same night.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Central Division Robbery Unit, at (213) 972-1245. Anonymous tips can be called into Crimestoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477), or by texting 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cellphone. All text messages should begin with the letters“LAPD.” Online tips may be placed at www.LAPDOnline.org, click on “web tips” and follow the prompts.
— Andrew Blankstein
Photo: A composite image of the suspect, who goes by the name "Pacho." Credit: LAPD