Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Kidnap Suspect Faces Arraignment Today

Meanwhile, the prime suspect met with his probation officer just hours before the kidnapping, He remains at large.

Update, 12:59 p.m.: A West Hills man was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on two felony counts stemming from the kidnapping of a 10-year-old girl who was taken from her family's Northridge home a week ago.

Daniel Martinez, 29, is set to appear this afternoon in San Fernando Superior Court on one count each of kidnapping a minor under 14 and first-degree burglary with a person present.

Martinez has remained jailed since his arrest Sunday morning in the 18200 block of Rayen Street in Northridge by the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division.

Find out what's happening in Northridge-Chatsworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Prosecutors plan to ask a court commissioner to set Martinez's bail at $150,000.

Update, 7:30 a.m.: Arraignment of Daniel Martinez, 29, of West Hills, in cpnnection with the kidnap of a 10-year-old Northridge girl, may take place as early as today, KNBC4 is reporting.

Find out what's happening in Northridge-Chatsworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Previous story: A photograph of Daniel Martinez, 29, of West Hills, the second suspect in the kidnap of a 10-year-old Northridge girl from her bed, has been posted by KNBC4.

Martinez was arrested Sunday morning in the 18200 block of Rayen Street in Northridge, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

The prime suspect -- 30-year-old Tobias Dustin Summers, who was identified by police over the weekend -- remains at large. Police said they believe he may have traveled to the San Diego area, and may have changed his appearance by shaving his head.

Summers met with his probation officer just hours before the kidnapping, KNBC4 is reporting.

Probation Assistant Chief Margarita Perez told KNBC4 that meeting occurred in the San Gabriel Valley.

Summers  was on probation under California’s prison realignment to ease inmate overcrowding. He was "assessed at a medium risk to re-offend,"according to KNBC4.

County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, a staunch critic of realignment, issued a statement Monday to the Los Angeles Times calling on Gov. Jerry Brown to "take the proper steps" and convene a special legislative session to "repeal this reckless program."

"The governor's failed realignment program is a proven threat to public safety which has overwhelmed probation departments and local law enforcement agencies," according to the statement quoted by the Times.

The Northridge girl was snatched early Wednesday morning from her bedroom in the 8000 block of Oakdale Avenue, a subdivision with large lawns and trees about a half-mile south of Cal State Northridge. She was apparently dropped off near Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Woodland Hills at 2:50 p.m. that day, and she walked to a nearby Starbucks, where she was found by a good Samaritan who pointed her toward police. The girl was barefoot and appeared to be wearing different clothing than those she was reported to be wearing when she disappeared.


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