Hours after a massive downtown Los Angeles manhunt and pursuit, a kidnap suspect from Minnesota was caught miles away in the San Fernando Valley.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told the Associated Press that a fugitive task force lost track of Jesus Ramirez, 31, for a few hours before finding and arresting him at a motel in North Hollywood Thursday afternoon.
The task force had been tracking Ramirez, who was wanted in a kidnapping and drug case from earlier this week in St. Paul, Minn.
The case involved the abduction of two people taken to a house and held while their relatives were asked to turn over methamphetamines or cash as ransom, according to a criminal complaint.
He allegedly threatened them with a gold-plated gun, the complaint stated.
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The drama began about 1 p.m. Thursday after a traffic stop near Cesar Chavez Avenue.
The suspect who was allegedly driving the SUV swerved through traffic on busy downtown streets and raced through intersections.
The pursuit ended in a downtown alley when the man ran from the SUV. The foot chase prompted a police search that closed nearby streets.
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Aerial video showed at least 10 LAPD vehicles outside a Fashion District high-rise building near a construction site as the search continued into Thursday afternoon.
