Fugitive Wanted in Los Angeles for Kidnapping, Rape, and Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution Arrested in Mexico

Tobias Summers was arrested this morning in the Baja town of La Mision by Mexican law enforcement officials who were working with the FBI, announced Bill Lewis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, and Charlie Beck, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Tobias Dustin Summers, a convicted felon, was wanted for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and rape of a 10-year-old girl in March 2013.

On April 3, 2013, the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, issued an arrest warrant for Summers charging him with 37 counts in connection with the kidnapping and rape of a child, all of them felonies.

On March 30, 2013, a video showed Summers entering into Tecate, Mexico. On April 11, 2013, a federal arrest warrant was issued in the United States District Court, Central District of California, after Summers was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution (UFAP).

According to the investigation, Summers had been living in the beach town of La Mision, where he was selling candy and sodas, according to local residents. Based on the media interest in this case, as well as proactive publicity efforts by LAPD and the FBI (http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/cac/tobias-dustin-summers), a source contacted law enforcement detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Division (RHD) on the evening of August 23. Since the lead was international in nature, RHD detectives contacted partners at the FBI, including the Fugitive Task Force, made up of FBI agents and LAPD detectives.

The FBI/LAPD fugitive task force worked through the night with the FBI’s Border Liaison Officer in San Diego and the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Mexico City who contacted Mexican law enforcement personnel. Summers was arrested the following morning by law enforcement officials with the Policia Estatal Preventiva in Baja, California.

Summers was deported by Mexican Immigration officials from Mexico, where he was living illegally, and escorted back to Los Angeles by members of the FBI and the LAPD. The federal government will dismiss the warrant charging Summers with UFAP, and Summers will be held in LAPD custody to await prosecution by the District Attorney in Los Angeles.

The tip that led to Summers’ capture was the direct result of a joint publicity campaign by the LAPD and the FBI in recent weeks. A reward offered in exchange for information as to Summers’ whereabouts will be paid to the source, who will not be identified.

The charges against Summers are the result of an investigation by the LAPD, assisted by the FBI. The fugitive investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force (FTF), which is made up of agents and detectives with the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department.

The arrest of Summers was carried out as a result of timely collaboration among the FBI’s Los Angeles and San Diego Field Offices; the Los Angeles Police Department; the San Diego Police Department; the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Mexico City; Mexican officials with the Policia Estatal Preventiva (Mexican State Police); and Instituto Nacional De Migracion (Mexican immigration officials).

The FBI continues to work with local law enforcement to apprehend violent criminals charged with state crimes who then flee the jurisdiction interstate or internationally. Photos and descriptions of many fugitives wanted by the FBI can be found at www.fbi.gov.

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