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closeSunday, Nov. 15, 2009
Wash. man arrested in I-205 shooting, kidnapping
The Associated Press
CLACKAMAS, Ore. A Beaverton woman escaped with the help of a passerby after her ex-boyfriend shot at her car along Interstate 205, kidnapped her and brought her to Washington state, sheriff's deputies said Sunday.
The woman, Yesenia Vehar-Fombona, 26, showed up at the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office on Saturday afternoon to describe her ordeal, deputies said in a news release.
Her ex-boyfriend, identified as Jose Guadalupe Pinedaleon, has been arrested and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday on charges of attempted murder and kidnapping. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.
Vehar-Fombona said her story began at about 3 a.m. Saturday as she was leaving work at a sports bar in Milwuakie, and her ex-boyfriend, whom she had recently dumped, followed her to her Lexus. He implored her to take him back, according to authorities, and he chased her along Interstate 205 after she drove off.
Pinedaleon, of Vancouver, Wash., called her on her cell phone, saying, "If you don't pull over now I'm going to kill you!" and when she refused, he drove alongside her and fired at least one shot at her car, Detective Jim Strovink said. A photo released by the sheriff's department shows a bullet hole above the rear driver's side tire of her car.
After Vehar-Fombona pulled over, Pinedaleon forced her into his car, then drove her to a remote area near Battle Ground, where he continued to threaten her, Strovink said.
Several hours later, the suspect fell asleep and Vehar-Fombona slipped the gun from him before taking off on foot, Strovink said.
A woman driving an oncoming vehicle stopped and picked her up, but the pair could not communicate because the driver did not speak Spanish and Vehar-Fombona does not speak English. As they drove to a Chevron gas station, authorities said, Vehar-Fombona received more threatening text messages, warning that her two children would be hurt if she spoke with police.
Vehar-Fombona bolted into a restroom at the gas station where she disassembled the handgun and hid the pieces in her clothes. Sensing something was wrong, employees called Battle Ground police, but both the suspect, who followed the Good Samaritan's car to the gas station, and Vehar-Fombona, who was worried about her children, kept quiet, Strovink said.
Vehar-Fombona called her ex-husband to pick her up, and he took her to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office to tell her story.
Deputies arrested Pinedaleon, 33, as he was driving in Happy Valley on Saturday night.
The sheriff's office said it hopes to learn the identity of the woman who drove Vehar-Fombona to the gas station to help with the investigation.
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