Woman and infant rescued by Rancho Mirage Police from attempted kidnapping

RANCHO MIRAGE – A woman yelling for help in a moving vehicle caught the attention of the Rancho Mirage police who came to her rescue on Wednesday night.

An officer on duty May 2nd at 7:14 PM observed a blue Chrysler moving southbound on Monterey Avenue at Dinah Shore Drive. The vehicle was driven by a man and an adult in the front seat was hanging out of the passenger side window, screaming for help. The officer made a routine traffic stop, pulling the vehicle over in the Costco parking lot.

Florentino Perez

According to a Riverside County Sheriff’s press release, as soon as the Chrysler was stationary, the woman bolted from the car, yelling that she had been kidnapped and that the man also had her 1 year-old infant inside the vehicle. The driver refused to comply with the officer’s commands to exit the car, barricading himself inside with the infant. With the doors locked and windows rolled up, officers had to use force to remove him from the vehicle. “Both the driver’s side and passenger’s side windows were broken to gain access,” said police.  The infant was then safely removed. However, the driver who was identified as Florento Perez, 25 years-old of Cathedral City, still refused to step out of the vehicle.

A police K-9 was deployed to assist in subduing and extricating the suspect from the driver’s seat. The K-9 bit Perez in the upper arm, who was then taken into custody without further incident. Perez was identified as the husband of the victim and the father of the infant, who were both taken to safety. The victim reported that she had suffered ongoing domestic issues and her husband was under the influence of alcohol and depressed prior to the incident.

Read more:

NBC, Standoff situation comes to dramatic end

mydesert.com, Cathedral City man charged with kidnapping and child cruelty