SAN ANTONIO - An 18-year-old boy was arrested on Thursday in connection with a pair of attempted kidnappings last week on the Southeast Side.
Jorge Ruedes Rivera Jr. , 18, is charged with two counts of attempt to commit kidnapping.
The first attempted kidnapping happened around noon on March 17 off Wales Avenue near Pecan Valley Drive.
According to the arrest report, a maroon Nissan Murano drove by the 27-year-old woman. When the victim got to the intersection, the vehicle stopped and a young man jumped out grabbed the woman and tried to force her into the back seat. The victim struggled while asking the young man in Spanish "Why?" He responded in Spanish "to get in and not make it difficult."
She was able to scratch the young man's chest during the struggle, who eventually jumped back into the car and sped off. Officers found a hat that the victim said belonged to the suspect and took trace evidence from her fingernails.
The second case happened around 2:30 p.m. on March 18 along Villarreal Street near Clark Avenue when a young man jumped out of a vehicle, grabbed a 12-year-old girl and tried to drag her back to his vehicle. Another young girl who was with the victim pepper sprayed the suspect, which was enough for the two to run away and find help, according to the arrest report.
The suspect was described as a young man wearing black pants with a silver stripe down the sides, a black hooded sweatshirt with white lettering on the chest and a white hood, black shoes, and his face was covered with a blue surgical mask.
Detectives were able to match the vehicle used in both attempted abductions to a similar vehicle that received a ticket in an address really close to the two locations. Upon inspection, detectives determined that the person who received the ticket also had a family member which matched the age and description of the suspect.
During surveillance, they saw the young man, identified as Rivera, driving the vehicle erratically and was able to pull him over on a traffic violation.
According to the arrest report, Rivera was questioned and he told investigators "that he has been hearing voices in his head that he believes are extra-terrestrials." That these voices were telling him to do things.
Investigators also believe that Rivera was the suspect in two sexual assaults at a pair of San Antonio hotels. Detectives say that surveillance video shows the suspect wearing the same pants and shoes as in the attempted kidnappings.
Biological evidence is being processed by the Bexar County Crime Lab to see if it matches Rivera.
Rivera was booked into the Bexar County Jail. His bail was set a combined $150,000.