|
.........
Man held in kidnapping, attempted killing
victim's father contacted authorities
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 |
Sheriff Lee Baca stands with photos of DeQiang Song, who is accused of kidnapping a woman he met a week
earlier at a karaoke bar and leaving her for dead in the desert while demanding a ransom from her family. |
|
Man held in kidnapping, attempted killing
L.A. County sheriff's investigators credit victim's father for contacting authorities when ransom was demanded for his daughter
by Robert Faturechi and Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times
September 18, 2010
It began as a friendly trip to the Santa Anita shopping mall in Arcadia with a man she had met at a karaoke club. But within hours, the 21-year-old woman would be crawling across the San Bernardino desert floor bleeding from her neck and desperate for help.
The woman, identified by authorities only by her first name, Liang, had met her attacker a week before the Sept. 8 kidnapping, police said. That day, DeQiang Song, a Chinese immigrant on a student visa, picked Liang up for a trip to the mall, but detoured to a desolate patch of desert between Victorville and Apple Valley, police said. |
| |
There, authorities said, he tied her up before taking her phone to call her father and demand a ransom.
Despite her father's willingness to pay, Song allegedly proceeded to put on latex gloves and choke the petite woman with a cord. When he realized she was still breathing, authorities said, he drew a knife and slashed her throat. He believed she was dead, authorities said, when he removed her restraints and left her in the desert before driving off to pick up his ransom.
The woman's father called the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. A search was launched for the woman. Meanwhile, detectives coached the victim's father, encouraging him to negotiate with his daughter's attacker to help them build a case for an arrest. The two went back and forth in their native Mandarin, agreeing on $10,000 in cash.
By the early morning of the next day, the drop-off was made in a parking lot. As Song went to pick up the package, authorities moved in and arrested him.
Song, 24, has been charged with kidnapping for ransom and attempted first-degree murder, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
Authorities said Liang regained consciousness and crawled to a shack half a mile away, where a resident called for help. She was airlifted to a nearby hospital, and is recovering at home, authorities said. Dried blood and clothing were found in the area off Interstate 15 where she had been attacked.
The details of the kidnapping were reported Friday by sheriff's detectives. They believe that Song, who had lived in Chicago since 2008 before recently moving into an apartment in Monterey Park, might have been involved in similar crimes in the past.
"Usually first-time criminals don't think in that manner, the complexity of it," Det. Michael Soopsaid.
No particular unsolved cases have been identified yet, authorities said.
Liang's last name is being withheld, but authorities said she too is a Chinese immigrant who originally came to the U.S. on a student visa. Her relationship with Song was not romantic, and she knew him only by an alias: Xia-Yu.
Soop called the decision by the victim's father to call police "courageous," saying that too often the families of kidnap victims keep quiet.
Sheriff Lee Baca said the area's Chinese community has been historically distrustful of law enforcement, and wary to report crimes, particularly when wives and daughters are the victims.
"They don't want to lose face," Baca said. |
|
|
|
|
