Staff Reports

Photo Courtesy: SBSD
Aaron Misael Viteri Vera, arrested for kidnapping.

Chino Hills – On Wed., Mar. 4, Chino Hills Detectives arrested a Riverside man for kidnapping after he used social media to lure a victim to Chino Hills by falsely representing himself as an employer for Amazon, and then held the victim against her will.

Aaron Misael Viteri Vera met the 19-year old victim on a phone application designed to connect people for social, personal or professional relationships. The victim had posted her profile as “Seeking Employment.”  Viteri Vera – who used the screen name, “Jay Delgado” – communicated with the victim for weeks via social media and text messages regarding employment at the Amazon warehouse. In the texts, he told the victim his name was “Jay” or “James.” The communications were professional and revolved around possible employment.

On Feb. 26, Viteri Vera and the victim met at a Subway to eat lunch and discuss her possible employment with Amazon. Viteri Vera waited for the victim in his car and told her he did not want Subway. He offered to drive the victim to Wendy’s instead. The victim got in the car and Viteri Vera got on the freeway. He took the victim’s phone and refused to return it to her.

The victim realized they were not traveling toward Wendy’s and became alarmed. There was a brief struggle inside the car and the suspect started to slow down. The victim, fearing for her life, opened the door to jump out of the car. The suspect grabbed her by the waist of her pants and tried to keep her in the car. Viteri Vera slowed the car and tried to keep her inside. As he continued to slow down, the victim jumped from the car and ran. The victim reported the incident to law enforcement and Deputies began the investigation.

Detectives and deputies from the Multiple Enforcement Team at the Chino Hills station served a search warrant at Viteri Vera’s house in Riverside on the morning of Mar. 4.  Viteri Vera was contacted and taken into custody without further incident. He was booked into the West Valley Detention Center for the above charges.

Viteri Vera had documents with the names of other women and had several profiles on various social media sites. Detectives fear there may be other victims of Viteri Vera’s scheme and urge anyone with information to contact the Chino Hills Police Department at (909) 364-2000.