Full Notification

DATE/TIME: May 3, 2019 / 9:31pm

INCIDENT: Kidnapping, Vehicle Theft

LOCATION: 15400 block of Palmdale Road, Victorville

SUSPECT: Alber Jimenez Melara, 19-year old Victorville resident

VICTIMS: Confidential: 49-year old female
18-month old female


SUMMARY: On May 3, 2019, deputies from the Victorville Police Department responded to a gas station in the 15400 block of Palmdale Road for a reported kidnapping and vehicle theft.

The female victim told deputies she stopped at the gas station to make a purchase. She parked approximately five feet from the walk-up window and went to make her purchase. While at the window she saw a man get in her car and begin to drive away, with her 18-month old granddaughter still in her car seat in the back of the vehicle. Another customer at the station saw the incident and began to follow the suspect, at a safe distance, to help deputies locate the child.

The suspect, later identified as 19-year old Alber Jimenez Melara, was located and stopped at Maple Avenue near Yucca Street in Hesperia. He was arrested and booked at High Desert Detention Center for kidnapping and vehicle theft. The child was evaluated at the scene by medical personnel and returned unharmed to her grandmother.

Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to contact Deputy O. Romero at the Victorville Police Department at (760) 241-2911 or Sheriff’s Dispatch at (760) 956-5001. Callers wishing to remain anonymous are urged to call the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-78CRIME (27463) or you may leave information on the We-Tip website at www.wetip.com.

Refer: Mara Rodriguez, Media Relations

Station: Victorville Police Department

Case #: 171903841

Phone No. (760) 241-2911

JOHN MCMAHON, Sheriff-Coroner
San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department