A Canyon Country man who allegedly told a couple in a car at gunpoint to drive him to a convenience store, then took money from them has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and robbery.
About 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, a man and a woman were sitting in their car parked near Altamere Avenue in Canyon Country when a man that they recognized from the neighborhood, knocked on their car window, said Shirley Miler, spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
He pointed a handgun at them, then climbed into the backseat of their car, and ordered them to drive, she said.
Fearing for their safety, the couple complied.
“The suspect had the victims drive him to a convenience store on Whites Canyon Road, where he exited the vehicle, taking U.S. Currency with him that belonged to the victims,” Miller said.
When the incident was reported to detectives, members of the station’s Career Offenders, Burglary, and Robbery Apprehension Team – or COBRA – “ were able to quickly identify and determine the whereabouts of the suspect,” she said.
The COBRA team hit the streets early Thursday morning to serve a search warrant and take a kidnapping, robbery suspect into custody.
The search warrant was executed after hours of intense investigation by COBRA detectives after an incident was reported to SCV Sheriff’s Thursday morning.
Dario Hernandez, 26, of Canyon Country, was taken into custody without incident.
He was taken to the SCV Sheriff’s Station jail on suspicion of felony kidnapping and robbery.
His bail was set at $1 million.
“We take incidents reported such as this very seriously,” Miller said.
“And we will do our best to quickly get these criminals off of our streets, and into jail where they are unable to victimize anyone else.”
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