Vallejo, California

From the Vallejo Times-Herald of October 28, 2006

Abduction interrupted

Oakland Hills home invasion ends in shootout; women safe; police seek suspect

A masked man abducted an Oakland Hills woman and her maid at gunpoint Friday before driving the pair to a Vallejo marsh, where authorities speculate he was about to kill them when a property caretaker interrupted the crime.

The suspect had just forced one of the women to lie down in a ditch when the caretaker, armed with a shotgun for protection against thieves, arrived around 2 p.m., authorities said. The suspect and caretaker exchanged shots before the suspect sped away in the Oakland woman's Lexus sport-utility vehicle.

No one was hit, and the women were not injured, though they had been bound and gagged. Tape could still be seen around one woman's neck as investigators questioned her at the Highway 37 scene.

The suspect had unsuccessfully robbed the women, and authorities suspect he was trying to find an isolated spot to kill them.

"I don't know why else he would take her over there and make her lie in the ditch," Sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Brackett said.

The shaken-up caretaker, Doug Paul of Vallejo, said: "I think he was doing something bad. It's pretty f---ed up to have a woman gagged and bound."

Authorities are on the lookout for the dark gray 2006 Lexus RX 400H Hybrid with California license plate number

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