Menifee woman among two arrested in kidnapping case

A Menifee woman and Fallbrook man were arrested this week on charges related to a reported kidnapping for ransom of another Menifee woman Aug. 9, authorities said today.

Jacqueline Smith-Perez, 31, was located by officers from the Riverside Police Department in San Bernardino on Tuesday, according to a Sheriff's Department news release. She was arrested and booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center, where she is being held on $1 million bail.

Nathan Lopez, also 31, was located by officers from the San Diego Police Department in the 4300 block of Arizona Street in San Diego, also on Tuesday. He was arrested the next day after a standoff with SWAT team members. Lopez was booked into the San Diego Central Jail, where he is being held without bail.

Smith-Perez and Lopez have been wanted by police since Aug. 9, when a woman was taken from her residence in the 27000 block of Holland Road in Menifee by two armed suspects, police said. The victim reported she was forced to obtain money to repay a debut and secure her release.

The suspects in that incident were identified as Lopez and Jesse Aaron, 32, also of Fallbrook. Some time later, the victim was returned to safety when a Murrieta Police Department officer conducting a routine traffic stop near the intersection of Antelope Road and Keller Road detained Aaron and discovered the victim in the car. Aaron was booked at Southwest Detention Center for kidnapping and false imprisonment. Lopez remained at large.

On Aug. 18, Sheriff's deputies from the Menifee Police Special Enforcement Team served a search warrant at a reidence in the 1200 block of Juliette Place in Fallbrook, assisted by San Diego Sheriff's deputies and a DEA Narcotics Task Force. Jedediah Shaw, 31, fled the location and was apprehended in a nearby back yard. Kelly Crossmen, 27, was detained in the house. Both were identified as residents of Fallbrook who were complicit in the kidnapping. An illegal firearm and ammunition and 15 ounces of methamphetamine were found in the house. Shaw and Crossmen were booked for kidnapping and drug sales.

No further information was provided on Smith-Perez's and Lopez's role in the crime.