Police rescue New Mexico woman from car after 'kidnap' text to sister

[August 26, 2014]  By Joseph Kolb
 
 ALBUQUERQUE N.M. (Reuters) - A New Mexico woman who texted her sister to say she was being kidnapped in a car by a man with a weapon was rescued by police who used the message to track down and arrest the driver after a high-speed chase through central Albuquerque, police said.

Using the description and license plate the sister provided, police found the car and tried to pull it over, Tanner Tixier, a spokesman for the city's Police Department, said in a statement on Monday.

But it sped off and police gave chase until the driver, who Tixier named as 36-year-old Daniel Romero, swerved into oncoming traffic, resulting in a four-car crash.

Based on preliminary information, police said Romero was likely to be charged with kidnapping, aggravated eluding of law enforcement, and on three outstanding warrants, including a felon in possession of a firearm.

Five people were sent to a local hospital with minor injuries after the crash, though Romero was not hospitalized, Tixier said. There were no details of the victim's injuries.

(Reporting by Joseph Kolb in Abluquerque, New Mexico; Writing by Eric M. Johnson, editing by John Stonestreet)

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