A 24-year-old suspect in the attempted kidnapping of a 6-year-old girl in Los Angeles County was arrested in Escondido after a sheriff's deputy recognized him from a wanted flier Wednesday, authorities said.
The suspect is accused of following and forcibly grabbing the girl as she walked with her blind father in Huntington Park on Tuesday. The Los Angeles Police Department put out a wanted flier, which made its way to the sheriff's Valley Center substation.
On Wednesday, a deputy from the substation was driving back after responding to a call at Palomar Medical Center Escondido when he saw a man who matched the description of the suspect depicted in the wanted flier standing at the intersection of state Route 78 and Broadway.
The deputy detained the man, whose clothes matched the clothing shown in the wanted flier, sheriff's Detective Jonathan Arevalo said.
During the arrest, a bystander flagged down the deputy and reported that the man had been following a juvenile, who ran to a nearby grocery store to ask for help, Arevalo said.
Escondido police took a report but didn't locate a victim. Their investigation was ongoing, police said.
The suspect was booked into jail in Los Angeles County in connection with the attempted kidnapping a day earlier.