3-year-old boy missing after dad arrested for public intoxication in Pasadena

Dylan Kurihara (Pasadena Police Dept. photo)

A search was underway today for a missing 3-year-old West Covina boy who was last seen with his father, who was alone when he was arrested in Pasadena for public intoxication, a Pasadena police spokeswoman said.

The missing boy, Dylan Kurihara, was last seen with his father leaving a parking structure at Cordova Avenue and Euclid Street, just south of the Pasadena Sheraton, at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Both the child and his father’s car have not been seen since then, said Pasadena police spokeswoman Janet Pope-Givens.

The father, 23-year-old Joe Kurihara, was arrested about an hour later by Pasadena police for public intoxication as he was walking alone near 300 E. Cordova St., a short distance from where the boy and car were last seen, Pope-Givens told City News Service.

At the time of his arrest, officers didn’t know that Kurihara had recently had his son with him, said Pope-Givens. He was subsequently booked on “public intoxication and obstructing his arrest” a Pasadena police officer said.

The missing car is a 2001 silver four-door Lexus sedan, with California license plates 4UHY191. Police asked reporters to publish and broadcast pictures they circulated of the boy and the car.

Kurihara is currently held at the Pasadena city jail on $10,000 bail, according to Los Angeles County Jail records.

At 8 a.m. today, Pope-Givens said, Pasadena police received a call from Dylan’s frantic mother, who had been calling hospitals and police stations looking for her son and her wayward domestic partner, Kurihara.

Dylan Kurihara (Pasadena Police Dept. photo)

“We informed her that we had Kurihara in custody since Saturday evening, but her son was not with him when he was taken into custody,” Pope-Givens told CNS.

2001 silver four-door Lexus sedan, with California license plates 4UHY191. (Pasadena Police Dept. photo)

Investigators then interviewed Kurihara who told them he couldn’t remember having the child with him, said Pope-Givens. A search was started for the missing boy and Kurihara’s missing Lexus, but neither has been found so far, she said.

“We think the boy was in the missing car, but we’re not sure,” Pope-Givens told CNS.

Dylan Kurihara is 32 inches tall, weighs 35 pounds, has shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue and brown checkered long sleeve shirt and dark blue pants, said Pope-Givens.

Kurihara has also had two recent arrests, according to jail records. Two days before his latest bust he was arrested in Baldwin Park by Baldwin Park police for an unspecified misdemeanor and was released on $1,155. bail.

On Aug. 10, Kurihara was arrested by police in Baldwin Park for another unspecified misdemeanor and released on $1,155. bail. Both of those misdemeanor cases are still apparently pending.

“I don’t know if there are any other children in that household or whether there is any history of domestic abuse or child abuse involving Kurihara,” Pope-Givens told CNS. “That will all be part of the follow-up investigation into this case.

“Our immediate concern is to find the child and Kurihara’s missing Lexus, because the child may still be in that car,” she said.

Police asked anyone with information on Dylan Kurihara’s whereabouts or Kurihara’s missing Lexus to call the Pasadena police at 626-744-4241.