A 37-year-old probationer was charged Tuesday with jumping into an idling car in which a physically disabled woman was sitting and refusing to let her go until her family found her by tracking her cell phone.
Jaime Arechiga Magana is charged with one count each of kidnapping for carjacking, carjacking, kidnapping and false imprisonment of an elder, all felonies, as well as driving without a valid driver’s license and petty theft, both misdemeanors.
Magana was arrested Thursday and is being held on more than $1 million bail pending his arraignment, which was rescheduled for Oct. 30.
About noon on Oct. 3, the 67-year-old victim was waiting in an idling car at Mom’s Market, 5111 W. Edinger Ave., as her husband was shopping when Magana got into the driver’s seat and drove away, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
“He takes off and she says, `Let me out,’ and he says no and drives her to Centennial Park, where he takes the keys with him and tells her to stay in the car,” Bertagna alleged. “Fortunately for her, her sister and her husband had the find-my-phone app and tracked the (victim’s) location.”
Magana allegedly drove around for 45 minutes before arriving at the park, where he got out of the woman’s car to buy narcotics and beer and the victim called her family for help, Bertagna said.
One of her relatives drove to the park and snapped a photo of Magana when he returned to the car, and an officer assigned to monitor probationers recognized Magana from the cell phone picture, according to Bertagna.
Magana’s 51-year-old brother, Sergio Magana Arechiga, is due in court next week for a hearing to determine if he is mentally healthy enough to assist in his defense. He is charged with abducting an 82-year-old man from his home in Santa Ana and forcing him to withdraw cash from an ATM, buy him clothes and pay for a hotel room, police said.
The younger sibling has a lengthy criminal record. He had been due in a Santa Ana courtroom Tuesday on two pending misdemeanor cases involving charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and violating a protective-stay-away order.
He pleaded guilty in November 2018 to misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and contempt of court for disobeying a court order. He was on probation in that case when he was arrested this week, according to court records.
>> Want to read more stories like this? Get our Free Daily Newsletters Here!