Miguel Angel Cordero Ramirez, 30, is charged with aggravated kidnapping and is behind bars on a $250,000 bond.
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The 11-year-old, who will not be identified, said he was doing laundry at his apartment complex on Tuesday afternoon when Ramirez approached him asking to borrow his laundry card. The 11-year-old said he went to ask for his mother's permission.
"She was trying to help someone, you know?" the victim's sister said.
The man then asked the boy to help him get something in his car before pushing him inside, according to the boy.
"He said 'obey me, or else you will get killed', and said he had a gun," the 11-year-old said.
The boy, who suffered scratch marks on his face and arm, says he tried to fight off Ramirez, who was telling him to get into certain positions.
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"He grabbed my hands and tried to grab my phone and put it somewhere else but forgot my hands were free," the boy said. "So I tried to open the lock, I opened it, and I opened the door. He started beeping, and I went outside and called for help."
Two different neighbors who heard the boy screaming jumped in to help and held Ramirez down until police arrived.
Ramirez, seen on video, is held against a car, trying to escape, but the neighbors don't let him.
The 11-year-old's mother and siblings ran in after hearing his screams for help.
"He was trying to get free and said he did nothing wrong and tried to fight them, but they wouldn't let him," the victim's sister said.
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The victim's family said they have never seen Ramirez, whose address is listed in Pasadena. They are thankful for the boy's quick thinking and the help of neighbors.
"I want him to stay in jail forever and never do this again so he can learn his lesson," the boy said.
The 11-year-old said his dream has always been to be a police officer, and now after this incident, he wants to be one more than ever.
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