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Man Accused Of Kidnapping Santa Barbara County Woman, Taking Her On Three State Odyssey Arrested

(Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office photo)
Joseph Hetzel, a man accused of kidnapping a Santa Barbara County woman, was arrested Tuesday night in Las Vegas

A man sought for the kidnapping of a Santa Barbara County woman has been arrested in Las Vegas.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s detectives say the long chain of events started with the abduction of Virginia Paris by an ex-boyfriend in Solvang Friday night.

Investigators say Joseph Hetzel forced the Lompoc woman to drive east in her car. The two were spotted in Arizona on Sunday morning, and again on Monday morning. Monday night, Paris was released outside of a casino in Henderson, Nevada. Tuesday night, Hetzel was arrested in the Las Vegas area, although detectives aren’t releasing details about what led to him being caught.

Friends of the Lompoc woman say she had been seeking a restraining order against the 52 year old man, who was considered to be armed and dangerous.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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