The Orange County District Attorney’s office in Santa Ana. Courtesy of the DA
Arraignment is scheduled Friday for a convicted sex offender accused of killing an Iraq War veteran, whose body was found wrapped in a tarp inside the trunk of an abandoned Lexus in Anaheim, and taking another man hostage.
Antonio Silva Lopez, 27, was charged Wednesday with murder and kidnapping for ransom-extortion.
He is accused of killing Adrian Darren Bonar, 34, of Escondido, on Oct. 4. The victim’s body was found inside the trunk of a Lexus that was discovered abandoned Oct. 17 on Santa Ana Canyon Road west of Gypsum Canyon Road, underneath the connector road of the Riverside (91) Freeway to the Foothill (241) Toll Road.
California Highway Patrol officers were preparing to tow the car but found “suspicious” objects that led to the discovery of the body.
Evidence in the case led investigators to the 2500 block of north Bristol Street in Santa Ana, where police went to serve a search warrant on Monday night, Anaheim police Sgt. Daron Waytt said.
Numerous SWAT officers from area police agencies helped arrest Lopez, “who was uncooperative,” Wyatt said.
Police found a man inside the residence who was allegedly being held hostage for ransom, Wyatt said. The victim, whose name was not released, was taken to an area hospital and was later released, he said.
Police recovered two kilograms of what is suspected to be fentanyl, as well as numerous firearms, Wyatt said.
Bonar served in the U.S. Army from 2005 through 2009, when he was honorably discharged. He saw combat in Iraq, Wyatt said.
According to court records, Lopez pleaded guilty in October 2014 to statutory rape of a 12-year-old relative in Santa Ana and was sentenced to a year in jail.
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