Kidnap attempt suspect arrested
LINDSAY — Officers here arrested a man who allegedly tried to get a 17-year-old girl in his truck four times, the same week another attempted-kidnapping suspect was in court.
Maurilio Banuelos, 50, approached the girl as she was jogging Wednesday evening on the south side of Lindsay, Department of Public Safety Sgt. Chris Hughes said.
He was arrested Thursday evening in the area the alleged incident occurred, after admitting to the purported crime, Hughes said.
"It was a very high priority, weÂ’ve been working on it since [Wednesday]," Hughes said Thursday. "Especially after what happened in Porterville."
Hughes was referring to the monthlong string of kidnapping attempts in March and April around Porterville-area schools. Police there arrested Daniel Segura, 44, and Miguel Fonseca, 43, of Porterville, for the alleged attempts to pick up school-bound girls.
Hughes said he was involved with that investigation.
"We wanted to get things squared away fast," Hughes said.
The girl was jogging along Harvard Avenue at Honolulu Street and continued south on Harvard to Lindmore Street when a man in a blue Nissan pickup truck asked her in Spanish to get into the car. The girl continued jogging east toward the Lindsay-Strathmore Public Cemetery when the truck appeared again and the man pulled alongside her and told her to get into the truck, Hughes said.
"She then took off running backwards (west) on Lindmore and the man put the truck in reverse and contacted her in Spanish and reached for the door," Hughes said. "The girl then started running north on Harvard and the blue truck appeared again, this time heading south toward her."
The truck waited as traffic passed, but the girl ran home before he could make a move, Hughes said.
Officers approached Banuelos on Thursday at a mini-market on the corner of Mirage Avenue and Honolulu Street. After Banuelos initially denied involvement, officers brought the girl to the store for a field identification, at which time the girl positively identified Banuelos as the suspect.
"After that, he admitted to trying to pick up the girl to give her a ride, but he said he thought she was 20 to 25 years old," Hughes said.
Banuelos faces one misdemeanor count of annoying and molesting a minor for sexual gratification.
Hughes said the girl was shaken by the ordeal.
"She was scared, she didnÂ’t jog today," Hughes said Thursday. "She thought the guy was going to rape her, she didnÂ’t know what his intentions were."
