The Irvine Police Department (IPD) arrested 28-year-old Daniel Ramirez for kidnapping and assaulting a man inside his apartment. His girlfriend, 27-year-old Mallory Arredondo, was also arrested for an outstanding warrant.
Yesterday, at approximately 9 a.m., Irvine police officers responded to an apartment community in the area of Irvine Center Drive and Spectrum regarding a possible stolen vehicle investigation. The victim stated that he met Ramirez and Arrendondo several days prior and they asked to borrow his car yesterday. When he refused, they took his car without permission and had not returned after several hours.
Later in the afternoon, at approximately 12:25 p.m., an Irvine police officer spotted the victim’s vehicle and attempted an enforcement stop. The vehicle fled at a high rate of speed a a short vehicle pursuit ensued. The officer discontinued the pursuit due to the suspect vehicle’s excessive speed and the danger it posed to the public.
A short time later officers located the unoccupied vehicle parked, with the engine running, in the underground parking lot of the victim’s apartment building. Officers made repeated attempts to contact the victim by phone, but there was no answer.
Due to the suspicious circumstances, officers feared the victim was inside his residence and was possibly in danger. Irvine police patrol personnel began to evacuate neighboring apartments and the OCFA was requested to stage nearby to provide immediate aid to anyone injured. A drone was deployed to surveil the area and to make announcements. Following the announcements, the victim exited the apartment and the door closed promptly behind him. The suspects then barricaded the door and refused to come out.
The victim told the officers that both suspects were inside the apartment. He said the male suspect pistol whipped him and was in possession of multiple firearms.
The Irvine SWAT and Crisis Negotiation Team responded to the scene and took over the negotiations with the suspects. When negotiations were not successful multiple less-lethal projectiles were used to break the windows of the apartment. Arredondo exited the apartment at 8:43 p.m. and Ramirez surrendered approximately 10 minutes later. Both suspects were detained and Irvine Police detectives took over the investigation.
A search warrant was later served on the apartment a a non-serialized AR-15 assault rifle and two handguns were successfully recovered. All the firearms were in various stages of disassembly. Detectives believe Ramirez disassembled the weapons when officers were negotiating his surrender. Ammunition for one of the handguns was also recovered.
Ramirez was arrested and booked at Orange County Jail for Kidnapping, Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Criminal Threats and outstanding warrants. Detectives will request firearm charges be added by the Orange County District Attorney’s office at a later date against Ramirez if appropriate. Arredondo was arrested for her outstanding warrant and she was cited and released from the Irvine Police Department custody facility.
Anyone with information related to this case should contact Detective Jason Renshaw at (949) 724-7244 or jrenshaw@cityofirvine.org.