The man who led police on a chase through downtown Los Angeles was found hours later in the San Fernando Valley, and the FBI believes he may be tied to kidnappings across the country. Gadi Schwartz reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. Thursday, April 17, 2014.
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.
