Father Booked For Kidnapping After Being Found With 2-Year-Old Daughter Sought In Amber Alert
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The father of a 2-year-old girl who was the subject of an Amber Alert after she was abducted at gunpoint in Chatsworth was questioned and booked for kidnapping early Thursday.
Louai Nayel Issa, 27, was found with his 2-year-old daughter Lanees Wednesday night in the Westlake neighborhood after taking her from a welfare officer earlier in the day in Chatsworth, police said.
The girl's unidentified mother, who police suspected may have had had knowledge of the unplanned abduction, was released without being booked, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Stacey Vandersall said.
The girl was unharmed, he said.
Police were alerted to the presence of the girl in Westlake by the manager of the nearby apartment complex where the father lived, Vandersall said. Officers set up a perimeter and took the father into custody at about 10:40 p.m. without incident.
The abduction happened about 2:05 p.m. Wednesday, according to the California Highway Patrol. At the end of a supervised visit, Issa, a Jordanian national, pointed a handgun at a Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services worker who had custody of the child, LAPD Lt. Bob Long said.
A second Jordanian man arrived in a getaway vehicle during what appeared to be a planned abduction, and both men drove off with the girl, Long said.
The girl's mother, who was not present at the supervised meeting, may have had knowledge of the plan, which is why investigators wanted to speak with her, Long said.
The child had been taken into DCFS custody because of her parents' history of drug-related neglect, according to Southland authorities.
The girl and her father were the only occupants of the vehicle when it was found in Westlake, Vandersall said.
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