Subjects of AMBER Alert "Rescued" in Long Beach

Updated 8:18 PM PST, Sun, Jul 5, 2009

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Four young children allegedly abducted by a man suspected of raping his ex-girlfriend and shooting another woman were "rescued" late Sunday afternoon in Long Beach and the suspect was arrested, a police officer said.

The children were rescued and Angel Samos, 29, was taken into custody around 5:30 p.m. near 16th Street and Pacific Avenue, said Officer Karen Rayner of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The suspect's mother lives in Long Beach, and he had contacted her earlier in the day, police said.

An Amber Alert was issued earlier in the day for the children and Samos, who is accused of sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend around 2 p.m. Saturday at a home near 79th Street and Broadway in Los Angeles, said Los Angeles police Lt. Faryl Fletcher of the Newton Station.

The girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter, Ashley Elizabeth Tathkran, and 6- year-old niece, Ariyanna Denise Wade, were in her care at the time of the alleged assault.

Samos allegedly took his ex-girlfriend and the two girls to a gas station at 45th Street and Avalon Boulevard about 10 p.m. Saturday and tried to carjack a vehicle, police said.

When the motorist, a 24-year-old woman, resisted, he allegedly shot her in the back, Fletcher said.

The woman was hospitalized in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive.

During the shooting, the ex-girlfriend ran away and the man fled with the two girls, Fletcher said.

Samos later contacted his mother and met with her at a Long Beach liquor store, police said. He then took his mother's vehicle and fled, taking two of his own children, 1-year-old Matthew Angel Samos and 5-year-old Jose Angel Diaz.

Earlier, the man contacted authorities from an undisclosed location and offered to trade at least some of the children for his ex-girlfriend, Fletcher said.