A pre-dawn carjacking and kidnapping that began in Lennox and ended in Hawthorne this morning ended with the victim released unharmed and two suspects in custody.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies said the incident began when a 23-year-old Lennox man was approached shortly after midnight by two men as he was getting into his car parked in front of his house near 107th Street and Hawthorne Boulevard.
The victim told police he was intimidated by the men who had the appearance of being gang members.
The two men ordered him to drive as they made a couple of unknown stops and eventually told him to take them to Bare Elegance, a strip club at 4824 W. Imperial Highway in Hawthorne, said detective Lt. Jeff Adams.
The victim told police that the men also stole personal property from him, Adams said.
"For whatever reason the suspects let the victim go and they proceeded to go inside," Adams said.
Sheriff's deputies and Hawthorne police were called at around 3 a.m. Arrested inside the club were Angel Ortiz, 33, of Lennox, and Sergio Maldonado (no age available) of Rolling Hills on suspicion
In some parts of this country they would have been shot.