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San Jose Violent Crime Spree Suspect Arrested In Sacramento

SAN JOSE (KCBS) – The man wanted in connection with the kidnapping and murder of a Campbell woman amid a crime spree last week has been arrested in West Sacramento.

San Jose police said 33-year-old Paul Ray Castillo was taken into custody on Sunday night.

"Our officers will often follow the case even if it leaves this jurisdiction here in San Jose," said San Jose police spokesperson Jose Garcia. "In this case, they were on the trail. Once they obtained certain leads, they went into West Sacramento. We had sufficient officers with our special operations unit for them to be able to safely take them into custody."

Castillo began his alleged rampage on Friday morning when police claim he shot a 42-year-old man during a robbery at a Chevron gas station in Willow Glen.

That victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive after suffering non-life threatening injuries.

Police said the suspect then fled the scene in a Nissan 300Z that had been reported stolen more than a week earlier. The car was found nearby at The Plant shopping center at Monterey Road and Curtner Avenue.

Police said 60-year-old Cindy Nguyen, a Campbell resident, was carjacked at that center around noon after she had stopped there reporting problems with her car.

"We know that he approached her and subsequently kidnapped her and took her car," said Garcia. "Later that evening, the officers spotted the suspect in Cindy Nguyen's car over in the northeast part of San Jose where they had a confrontation with him. They discharged a firearm and he fled on foot and escaped."

Nguyen's body was found Saturday morning in a home on the 500 block of North 12th Street.

Nguyen was a popular Vietnamese-American radio host and also the office manager at PN Real Estate. Her colleagues were stunned by the news that she had been killed.

KCBS' Betsy Gebhart Reports:

"It's a giant loss for the community, not just her family. There are a lot of friends and co-workers that loved her," said Nick Pham, the owner of PN Real Estate.

Pham said Nguyen last talked to her co-workers on Friday.  She told them she was going to be late for work but that a man had stopped to help her with her car.

"She's so friendly that she would shake everyone's hand," said Pham. "The reason why she didn't want us to come out (and help her) is because there was someone else that was helping her."

Nguyen was a single mom with three children. Her colleagues are planning a memorial event later this week.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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