Deputies capture Amber Alert suspect

Nothing seems to make Clarendon County Sheriff Randy Garrett happier than seeing a plan come together.

When his office received notification Saturday of an Amber Alert involving the kidnapping of a four-year-old child that had been taken from his Wake County, mother and suspected to be traveling south on I-95, Garrett’s men and women went to work.

Reports state that the suspect, Jesus Villagran Barajas, was being tracked by his cell phone usage. Sgt. Clay Conyers, Deputy Rudy Tisdale, Deputy Kimberly Marlow and other members of the Sheriff’s CAT team (Community Action Team) set up on the interstate and when they spotted the suspect’s red, 1996 Oldmobile Cutlass, they closed in on him.

“We enacted what we call a controlled stop,” Garrett explained. “We get in front of and behind the suspect and are able to ease his vehicle off the road with no other traffic around. We have to be aware that a child may be in the car and we don’t want to cause the suspect to do anything rash, like make a hostage out of the child, or discharge a firearm.”

According to reports, when deputies approached the vehicle, there was no child in the car.

The deputies were heartbroken, according to Garrett, but they quickly got busy helping to locate the child.

“They used numbers logged on Barajas’ cell phone and deputies were able to communicate with Wake County officials who located the child at the home of Barajas’ girlfriend’s brother. The child was taken into custody without incident by the Wake County authorities.”

Barajas was arrested and taken to the Clarendon County Detention Center where he will be surrendered to Wake County officials.