Local : Suspects Seized, Kidnaping Victim Freed in San Fernando Valley Chase

Police freed a 33-year-old kidnaping victim and arrested three suspects after a high-speed chase through the San Fernando Valley, authorities said.

The victim, Rubell S. Shumahine, was found shaken but unharmed in a car that was pulled over at the end of the chase in Granada Hills shortly after 1 a.m., Lt. Ron Lewis said.

Three people--Salvador Feliciano, 28, and Lisa Parry, 23, both of Van Nuys, and Eugene Cumba, 39, of Los Angeles--were arrested on suspicion of kidnaping for ransom.

Lewis said the motive for the abduction is under investigation but appears to be rooted in a business dispute between Shumahine, owner of an auto-body repair shop, and an acquaintance of the suspects.

“We are leaning toward some kind of business situation,” Lewis said. “The suspects believed he owed money” to an unidentified individual. “They were going to get it for him.”

Witnesses told police that they saw Shumahine apparently being forced into a car near his business in the 1400 block of South La Brea Avenue in the Mid-Wilshire District about 5 p.m. Tuesday, Lewis said.

Detectives later contacted Shumahine’s girlfriend and learned that she had received ransom calls demanding $60,000 in exchange for his return.

Investigators learned that Shumahine was being held in a Van Nuys apartment shared by Feliciano and Parry, Lewis said. He declined to say how investigators learned that.

As undercover police were watching the apartment about 1 a.m., three people emerged with Shumahine and drove off, Lewis said. The three apparently realized that they were being followed by unmarked police cars and attempted to speed away.

Police chased the car at speeds up to 90 m.p.h. for 5 to 10 minutes until the suspects pulled over in the 17200 block of Devonshire Boulevard in Granada Hills, Lewis said. Two surrendered and the third was captured after he tried to run. A handgun he discarded was recovered, Lewis said.

The suspects were being held in the Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Lewis said investigators had not found any indication that Shumahine owed anyone the $60,000. He declined to discuss the business dispute.