A 43-year-old Miami man has been arrested by police in connection with the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old boy.
Aliex Santiesteban was arrested on Monday night in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood. He was charged with sexual battery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and attempted murder.
He is being held in the Miami-Dade jail without bond, NBC Miami reported.
Police say the Hispanic boy was abducted off the street around 2 a.m. Saturday on 43rd Terrace and 30th Avenue.
The boy was walking down the street when a man pulled up alongside him, forced him into a vehicle, and drove him to an empty lot near Northwest 45th Street and 31st Avenue, where he was sexually assaulted in the back seat of the car.
Santiesteban allegedly shot the boy and pushed him out of the vehicle, WPLG Local News 10 reported.
A bystander heard the boy’s screams and took him to a nearby convenience store where an employee called 911.
Police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta told reporters the child car door locks had been activated, blocking the boy’s escape.
Unbeknownst to his parents, the boy apparently snuck out of his house, and had arranged pillows on his bed to give the appearance he was asleep. He was on his way back home from his friend’s house when he was abducted.
He is in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, according to NBC Miami.
