Police Arrest West Hills Man in Connection to Girl's Kidnapping

A 29-year-old West Hills man was behind bars today in connection with the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl who was taken from her family's Northridge home and found in Woodland Hills last week.

Daniel Martinez was arrested Sunday morning in the 18200 block of Rayen Street in Northridge, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

A second suspect—30-year-old Tobias Dustin Summers, who was identified by police over the weekend—remains at large. Police said they believe he may have traveled to the San Diego area, and may have changed his appearance by shaving his head.

The girl was snatched early Wednesday morning from her bedroom in the
8000 block of Oakdale Avenue, a subdivision with large lawns and trees about a
half-mile south of Cal State Northridge. She was apparently dropped off near a
hospital at 2:50 p.m. that day, and she walked to a nearby Starbucks, where she was found by a good Samaritan who pointed her toward police. The girl was
barefoot and appeared to be wearing different clothing than those she was reported to be wearing when she disappeared.

Police said the girl had abrasions, including some on her face, when she
was found.

Investigators said they were searching for two suspects, and they named
Summers as a target of their search on Saturday. They also said the girl had
been taken to multiple locations, in different vehicles.

Summers has large tattoos of a flaming skeleton face, and a woman, on his right arm. He was described as a white man weighing about 160 pounds with
blond, closely cropped hair and blue eyes.

Police said the suspect is a transient known to frequent the Devonshire,
North Hollywood and greater San Fernando Valley areas.

Officers said Summers has a lengthy rap sheet dating back to 2002, and
was released from custody last July—apparently as a result of the state's
effort to relieve prison overcrowding. He has served prison terms for robbery,
kidnapping, explosives possession and petty theft, police said.

Although he is not known to be a registered sex offender, Summers did
have an arrest for battery in 2009 that involved child annoyance, according to
police.

It was not known whether Summers knew the girl or anyone in her family, Smith said, and it was also unknown whether the girl was targeted or was a random victim.