TUCSON – Last week, Border Patrol agents working the state Route 92 immigration checkpoint near Benson, Arizona, helped the Sierra Vista Police Department catch a car thief and rescue two kidnapped toddlers Wednesday evening.
Around 7:30 p.m., Tucson Sector agents assigned to the checkpoint received an Sierra Vista Police Department (SVPD) request to locate a vehicle stolen from a woman in Sierra Vista. The vehicle contained two young children.
Only minutes later, a car matching the vehicle’s description entered the checkpoint’s primary inspection lane.
While conducting an immigration inspection, agents verified the car was the same vehicle SVPD had reported stolen and arrested the 43-year-old, U.S. citizen driver. Agents located the toddlers still in their car seats, unharmed.
Agents contacted SVPD officers, who promptly arrived to take the suspect into custody. The toddlers’ parents arrived soon thereafter to reunite with their children.
The suspect will be state prosecuted for two counts of Kidnapping and one count of Unlawful Use of Means of Transportation.