Southwest
Texas man pleads guilty to kidnapping teen whose ‘Help Me' sign led to California rescue
A Texas man pleaded guilty to kidnapping a 13-year-old girl who was rescued in California after an observant passerby saw her hold up a “Help Me!” sign in a parked car.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, Steven Robert Sablan, 62, of Cleburne, Texas, pled guilty.
The 62-year-old admitted that he had sexually assaulted the 13-year-old girl after kidnapping her.
Sablan drove the Texas teenager to California after kidnapping her on July 6, 2023 in San Antonio.
KIDNAPPED TEXAS TEEN RESCUED BY GOOD SAMARITANS IN CALIFORNIA AFTER WAVING ‘HELP ME’ SIGN
In this undated photo released by the U.S. Department of Justice is a sign used by a 13-year-old girl kidnapped in Texas. On Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, a statement received from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California said Steven Robert Sablan, 62, of Cleburne, Texas, admitted in a plea agreement that he sexually assaulted the victim while driving her from Texas to California. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP, File)
The young girl’s nightmare began during a walk in the Texas city.
Sablan allegedly approached the victim and raised a black handgun to his side while ordering her to get into his sedan.
“If you don’t get in the car with me, I am going to hurt you,” Sablan allegedly told the teen, who complied and got into his car.
Police car with lights during a riot. (iStock)
Court documents state that the now 62-year-old began driving and told the girl he could take her on a cruise ship to see her friend in Australia.
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Sablan allegedly told the teen that she, “had to do something for him first.”
The adult then allegedly sexually assaulted her and continued to rape her while driving from Texas to California.
The Long Beach Police Department is looking for a man accused of two assaults on women. (Long Beach Police Department)
On July 9, Sablan parked his vehicle in Long Beach, California and went into a laundromat to wash their clothes while the victim stayed in the car.
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While her attacker was preoccupied, officials say the teen victim wrote “help me” on a piece of scrap paper in an attempt to catch someone’s attention.
A witness saw the girl and called the Long Beach Police Department, who arrived to find Sablan outside the vehicle. Authorities say that the teen mouthed “help” from inside to authorities.
Authorities rescued the 13-year-old girl in Long Beach, California. (Hyattsville Police Department)
During a search of the vehicle, officers retrieved a black BB gun, a “Help me” sign, and a pair of handcuffs.
Sablan was arrested and will be sentenced on October 25 for a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
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A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
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