AUBURN – A attempted kidnapper was punched by the father of his intended 3-year-old victim on Saturday as he grabbed her at North Auburn’s Regional Park. Authorities said that Yonel Hernandez-Velasco, 27, of Auburn, according to those at the park, was acting strangely that evening.
At around 7:00 p.m. Hernandez-Velasco allegedly approached a group of boys playing basketball. The boys said that he asked them if he could purchase their basketball. After the boys refused twice, Hernandez-Velasco showed them handcuffs and told them he could handcuff one of them and drag them into the pond. The boys continued to refuse and told him to go away. Hernandez-Velasco did leave but next went to the 3-year-old girl who was with her family at the park. “He took her hand and started skipping through the grass,” Placer County Sheriff’s Department officials said. “The girl’s mother and boyfriend were with their dog nearby and yelled for the man to stop.”
The mother’s boyfriend walked up to Hernandez-Velasco and demanded that he let go of the little girl. He did, but began acting in a belligerent manner with the boyfriend. The girl’s father ran to the scene from an apartment close by. “When the father asked Hernandez Velasco what he was doing, Hernandez Velasco pulled the handcuffs from his pocket and wrapped them around his hand like brass knuckles,” Sheriff’s officials said. “He charged toward the father, who punched him in the face. He came back at the father again, and he was again punched in the face. Hernandez-Velasco fell to the ground and remained there until deputies and medical aid arrived.”
Hernandez-Velasco was taken to the hospital where he was medically cleared and where a blood sample was collected. His blood test result came back showing he was under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. He was booked into the Auburn Jail for kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted kidnapping. He is being held in lieu of $1.2 million.
