Kidnapping Suspect Jailed, Accused of Taking Nephews from Pasadena to Upland

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

PASADENA - A man who is described as unstable allegedly kidnapped his 4-and-6-year-old nephews and fled with them to Upland Wednesday.

He took the children from the 500 block of Rosemead Boulevard in unincorporated Pasadena August 28. Deputies were able to track the suspect through a cellphone, according to Sgt. Kearney of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Temple Station.

The man has no custodial rights to the children. The mother of the children, the suspect’s sister, believed he intended to harm her children, according to the Upland Police Department.

Before the suspect was located in Upland, law enforcement surrounded and searched a residence near Fruit Street and Amherst Street in La Verne, according to Sgt. Figueroa of the La Verne Police Department.

In Upland, the suspect led officers on a pursuit with the children in tow. The chase was over quickly.

“At the conclusion of the pursuit, the suspect was taken into custody and spontaneously stated that he wanted to take the children to Heaven,” according to the Upland Police Department.

The children were unharmed, but were examined as a precaution, according to the Upland Police Department.

Booking records show a Vartan Khoren Gurunian, 34, was arrested at 9:11 p.m. He was booked on suspicion of kidnapping a victim under 14 years of age. He is being held in the Sheriff’s Temple Station jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.