A sketch of the suspect involved in the alleged kidnapping of a 15-year-old Encinitas girl.
ENCINITAS–Two men were arrested Friday in connection with an attempted kidnapping of a 15-year-old girl in Encinitas Wednesday evening, authorities said today.
Sheriff’s deputies took 27-year-old Christopher White and 28-year-old Jeremiah Owens into custody. Both men were booked in Vista Jail. They are facing charges of kidnapping with the intent to commit rape, false imprisonment, assault with the intent to commit rape, and conspiracy.
Both suspects are accused of grabbing the girl around 5:30 p.m. in the 1600 block of Neptune Avenue in Encinitas. She told deputies she was waxing her surfboard in her home’s driveway when a man came up from behind her and pinned her to the ground. The man allegedly tried to drag her into an older blue model pickup truck parked along Grandview Street, but she was able to fight back and run inside her home.
Sheriff’s deputies Thursday released a sketch of the suspect and description of the truck used in the crime to the public.
On Friday, just before 11 a.m., a resident reported seeing a pickup truck matching the description of one seen in the area of the incident. The truck was located by deputies in the 1400 block of Summit Avenue in Encinitas. Deputies pulled the driver of the truck over. They detained a man fitting the description of a suspect in a sketch that was released to the public. White was later positively identified as the suspect from the sketch and was arrested.
Detectives developed further leads that led them to Owens. He was taken into custody, without incident, by the Regional Fugitive Task Force at his home in Escondido at about 6:40 p.m.
Sheriff Bill Gore praised the collaborative effort in the case, “The response from the North Coastal Sheriff’s Station, as well as help from the media in getting the information out and the public calling in tips, led to a quick arrest in this case.”
