The kidnapping of a Pioneertown woman was thwarted by the victim’s father last week, and the suspect was later located and arrested.
On Wednesday morning (January 18), County Sheriff’s Deputies report that a male suspect broke into a house and physically removed a woman from her home in the 5500 block of Tom Mix Road in Pioneertown, carrying her down the stairs and towards the front door against her will. Deputies say that the victim’s father witnessed the incident and intervened, preventing her from being taken by the suspect.
The suspect was identified as Michael Almarez, a 44 year-old resident of Fontana, and the victim has a restraining order against him.
Almarez was reported to have fled the scene in a white GMC Yukon.
The father reported the incident to Deputies at the Sheriff’s Morongo Basin Station, and deputies were able to locate the Yukon, with Almarez inside, later in the afternoon near the intersection of Desert Air Road and Valley View Circle in Joshua Tree.
Michael Almarez was arrested for investigation into burglary, kidnapping, violation of a court order, and possession of a controlled substance, and was booked into the Morongo Basin Jail with bail set at $1,000,000.
