Boy missing after father’s arrest in Pasadena

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PASADENA — Police are searching for a 3-year-old West Covina boy who went missing after his father was arrested for public drunkenness, authorities said.
Dylan Kurihara was last seen about 9:30 p.m. Saturday in a Lexus SUV with with his father, 23-year-old Joe Kurihara of Los Angeles, leaving a parking structure at Cordova Avenue and Euclid Street, police said in a written statement.
They had just attended a wedding at the nearby Masonic Temple, along with the boy’s mother, Lt. Tom Delgado said.
“The father was intoxicated and went outside,” Delgado said. “The child followed the father. The child and the father never returned inside.”
Police arrested Joe Kurihara about 10:35 p.m., “an hour and five minutes after (father and son) were last seen,” as he was on foot in the 300 block of East Green Street, Delgado said.
The father made no mention of his son, and there were no indications that the man had been driving, police said.
“We had no idea the son was with the father,” he said.
“Joe Kurihara does not recall being with the child due to his level of intoxication,” according to the police statement.
Police have not been able to locate the SUV, either.
The mother was not initially alarmed when she couldn’t find her son, because she believed he was with his father, Pasadena police spokeswoman Janet Pope Givens said.
She became worried and called police about 8 a.m. Sunday to report her son and his father were missing, authorities said.
Police told her that the father, Joe Kurihara, had been jailed on suspicion of public drunkenness, but he was not with a child when arrested.
Though the initial arrest was for being drunk in public, he was ultimately booked on suspicion of resisting arrest, Pope Givens said.
Initial investigation revealed no indication of custody disputes or other problems between Kurihara and the mother of his son, Pope Givens said.
She declined to say whether investigators doubted the father’s story.
“Anything beyond the current facts would be speculation,” she said. “We’re going to look into everything that we need to look into to find Dylan.”
According to sheriff’s booking records, the father remained behind bars Sunday in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Joe Kurihara was also arrested Thursday and Aug. 10 by Baldwin Park police officers for an outstanding misdemeanor warrant, Baldwin Park police officials said.
It was not clear Sunday what alleged offense the warrant was issued in connection with, and he was released both times after posting $1,155 bail.
Police described Dylan Kurihara as 32 inches tall, 35 pounds, with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue and brown checkered long sleeve shirt and dark blue pants.
The SUV he was last seen in is a silver 2001 Lexus RX300 with a license plate number of 4UHY191.
Police used a reverse 9-1-1 system to notify local residents about the missing child, and also broadcast the information to other nearby law enforcement agencies.
Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez asked anyone with information that may help officials locate Dylan Kurihara to call the Pasadena Police Department.
“While traveling around Pasadena today, please keep an eye open for Dylan and/or the vehicle,” he said. “If you located Dylan or the vehicle, please call 9-1-1 or the watch commander’s office at 626-744-4620.”

PHOTO of Dylan Kurihara comes courtesy of the Pasadena Police Department

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