kidnappers

I am standing on what looks like a cramped, dark city street. A tavern is around a corner, a police department in front of me. And I’m lost.

That’s when I hear a whisper. “Psst.” I turn, and see a puppet peeping his head out of a secret opening of a door. Over here,” he says, and I find myself leaning in to listen to this furry, oval-faced creature in the shadows. He’ll help me, he says — that is if I can clear his name. See, another puppet has been murdered, and everyone right now is a suspect.

Campaign posters for puppet candidates for mayor inside Appleseed Avenue. “Election Day” is a tale of political espionage with puppet-on-puppet violence.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

I am playing a gamed called “Election Day” at Appleseed Avenue, a relatively new escape room in a multi-story strip mall in Newhall. The puppet world is in the midst of a crisis, torn over whether humans should be allowed to wander the fictional street of Appleseed Avenue. My role is that of a detective, and throughout this game of fatal political espionage, I encounter multiple puppet characters — electricians, would-be-mayors, gangsters, dead puppets.

Drama ensues, and that’s where we humans come in, helping the puppets crack the case before we’re banned from their world once and for all. One needn’t be up on the state of puppet politics to participate — and don’t worry, the domestic affairs of Appleseed Avenue are relatively divorced from those of our own. Only a penchant for silly absurdity, and a stomach for puppet-on-puppet violence, is required.

While the look of the puppets may be inspired by, say, “Sesame Street,” with characters that are all big mouths and large eyes, the tone of “Election Day” leans a bit more adult. Recommended for ages 13 and older, “Election Day” will feature puppets in perilous conditions. And if you’re playing as a medical examiner, be prepared to get a glimpse at a mini puppet morgue.

Guests will play as detectives or medical examiners in Appleseed Avenue’s “Election Day.”

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“Sometimes people do think, ‘Oh, this is for little kids.’ Not quite,” says Patrick Fye, who created the experience with Matt Tye. “We call it PG-13.”

“We wanted that dichotomy,” says Tye. “Really silly puppet-y characters in a gritty world.”

Fye and Tye are veterans of the local escape room scene — Fye the creator of Evil Genius Escape Rooms and Tye the developer of Arcane Escape Rooms. “Election Day,” however, while a timed experience, isn’t a pure escape room. Think of it more as a story that unfolds and needs solving. We’re not trapped. In fact, one puzzle actually utilizes the waiting room, as “Election Day” toys with the idea of traversing the human world and a puppet universe.

Patrick Fye and Matthew Tye, founders of Appleseed Avenue, along with their lookalike puppets.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Puppets weren’t necessarily the driving idea behind their joint venture in Appleseed Avenue. Creating a so-called escape room that was more narrative based was the objective. They wanted a room, for instance, where puzzles felt natural rather than forced. “Election Day” isn’t a space, say, with complex cipher codes to untangle. I was reminded of old-fashioned adventure video games, where one is prompted to look at objects, combine them or go on scavenger hunts, like the one prompted by the puppet I met in an alley.

Puppets were simply a means to an end.

“How can we make something that feels like you’re actually in the story and has more video game-y elements, as opposed to, ‘I’m in an Egyptian tomb. Here’s a padlock,’ ” says Fye. “We were trying to figure out how to mix the diegetics with the overall design. We stumbled on crimes and puppets because we thought it was fun and funny.”

One problem: Neither had created puppets or puppeteered before. Enter online classes, where Tye learned how to craft arm-rod puppets.

“We thought it was the coolest idea we had,” Tye says. When we both look at something and go, ‘We don’t know how to do all of this yet,’ we don’t let that stop us.”

Appleseed Avenue is home to an escape room featuring puppets. It doubles as the street name in which the game, “Election Day,” takes place.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“Election Day” does unfold like a live-in video game. At times, we’re interacting with a screen, as puppets will relay us messages and quests. Often, we’ll explore the space, as the two have created an elaborate set. Teams are split. Half work as detectives, and half as medical examiners. We can communicate via an inter-room conference system, or simply run back and forth.

But listening to everything the puppets say is paramount, as clues are often hidden in dialogue. Both say they have done too many escape rooms where the story felt too divorced from the actions they were being asked to complete.

“We even say at the beginning of the game, ‘The story really matters.’ You have to pay attention to it,” Fye says. “There’s a moment I’ll never forget. We were doing a Titanic room, and we were in the engine room shoveling coal. But isn’t the ship sinking? What is happening? A lot of times a story is just set dressing.”

The initial response to “Election Day” has been positive, so much so that the two are set to debut a second game in 2026, a sci-fi room titled “Shadow Puppet.” The latter will utilize the same Appleseed Avenue set, although additional spaces will be built out. They’re also looking at some more kid-friendly options. Planned for 2027 is a game titled “Puppet Town Day,” in which little ones will receive passports that prompt them to interact with the puppet characters.

Wanted posters for puppets. Many are a suspect in Appleseed Avenue’s “Election Day.”

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

For now, however, think of Appleseed Avenue as part of greater Los Angeles escape room trend. Whether it’s Hatch Escapes with its corporate time-jumping game “The Ladder” or Ministry of Peculiarities with its spooky haunted house, creators here are emphasizing story. Appleseed Avenue is no different, introducing us to a wacky cast of puppet characters.

It also achieves a rare feat: It makes murder feel ridiculous.

Says Tye: “When there’s a guy named Alby Dunfer who’s getting it from a blowdart from a hitman, it’s like, ‘OK, this is fun.’ ”

When a group of armed, masked men was spotted dragging a woman into an SUV in the Fashion District last week, a witness called 911 to report a kidnapping.

But when Los Angeles Police Department officers arrived, instead of making arrests, they formed a line to protect the alleged abductors from an angry crowd of onlookers demanding the woman’s release.

The reported kidnappers, it turned out, were special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Police Chief Jim McDonnell defended the officers’ response, saying their first responsibility was to keep the peace and that they had no authority to interfere with the federal operation.

In political and activist circles, and across social media, critics blasted the LAPD for holding back the crowd instead of investigating why the agents were arresting the woman, who was later found to be a U.S. citizen.

“What happened downtown on Tuesday morning certainly looked and felt like LAPD was supporting ICE,” said Mike Bonin, a former City Council member who is now executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.

Kimberly Noriega, left, speaks with her aunt, Anita Neri Lozano, at Veterans Memorial Park in Culver City on Sunday. The family was attending a news conference regarding the arrest of a beloved street vendor, Ambrocio Lozano.

(Luke Johnson / Los Angeles Times)

The incident was one of more than half a dozen in recent weeks in which the LAPD responded to federal immigration enforcement actions that were called in as kidnappings.

The presence of local police officers at the scenes — even if they are not actively assisting ICE — has led some city leaders to question the department’s role in an ongoing White House crackdown that has swept up hundreds of immigrants and sown fear across Southern California.

Incidents of impostors masquerading as law enforcement have compounded the situation, along with rumors — so far unverified — that federal authorities have enlisted bounty hunters or private security contractors for immigration arrests.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called coverage of one reported kidnapping a “hoax” in a post Tuesday on X and said: “ICE does not employ bounty hunters to make arrests.”

In a letter to the Police Commission last week, City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez said the LAPD should make sure federal agents who cover their faces and often use unmarked vehicles are who they claim to be.

“Our residents have a right to know who is operating in their neighborhoods and under what legal authority,” wrote Rodriguez, whose district includes the San Fernando Valley. “Allowing unidentified actors to forcibly detain individuals without oversight is not only reckless — it erodes public trust and undermines the very rule of law.”

She said that city leaders couldn’t allow “bounty-hunter-style tactics to take root in our city,” and urged the commission, the LAPD’s civilian policymaking body, to “develop proper legal and safe protocol that provide for officer safety, transparency and accountability to our communities.”

Residents stand behind a line of Vernon police officers after an immigration raid in the city of Bell on June 20.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

“This lack of identification is unacceptable. It creates an environment ripe for abuse and impersonation, enabling copycat vigilantes to pose as federal agents,” Rodriguez wrote.

State and local officials have proposed legislation to increase transparency around officer identification, but it’s unclear if the bills will become law — and whether they could actually be enforced against federal agents.

Police Commission President Erroll Southers said Tuesday that he and another commissioner met with City Council members to discuss the Police Department’s response to the Trump administration’s aggressive sweeps. Several commissioners questioned McDonnell about how LAPD officers are supposed to respond to reported kidnappings.

Los Angeles police officers stand guard as community members protest recent immigration raids in front of the Federal Building in downtown L.A. on June 18.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

McDonnell said the department created new guidelines that require a supervisor to respond and instruct LAPD officers to verify the purported ICE agents are legitimate, preserving a record of the interaction on body-worn cameras.

The chief said the top priority for officers is maintaining the safety of all those present, but ultimately officers have no authority to interfere with a federal operation.

According to a new poll from YouGov, a public opinion research firm, nearly three-quarters of Californians believe local police officers should arrest federal immigration agents who “act maliciously or knowingly exceed their authority under federal law.”

The same survey also found that a majority of state residents want to completely forbid California officials from collaborating with immigration enforcement and make it easier for citizens to file lawsuits when “authorities violate the due process rights of immigrants.”

The LAPD has long claimed that it has no role in civil immigration enforcement, but the department is now facing pressure from City Hall and beyond to go further and protect Angelenos who are undocumented.

A motion considered this week by the L.A. City Council would, among other things, limit the LAPD’s “support to agencies performing immigration enforcement.”

Eastside residents and others march in Boyle Heights on Tuesday as part of a series of “Reclaim Our Streets” actions being conducted in protest of federal immigration enforcement operations.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

LAPD officials say that the department has responded to at least seven calls in which people contacted 911 to report a kidnapping that turned out to be an ICE operation.

One emergency call came in when a group of masked federal Border Patrol agents was spotted staging near Dodgers Stadium last week, sparking a wave of speculation online about potential immigration enforcement at the ballpark. LAPD officers responded to the scene and again provided crowd control after a group of protesters showed up.

Several police supervisors said that in the past, it was customary for federal agents conducting surveillance in a given LAPD division to give the area’s watch commander a heads-up as a courtesy. But that longstanding practice has ended, leaving them largely left in the dark about the timing and location of planned immigration raids.

Cmdr. Lillian Carranza said it was irresponsible for people to describe the arrests as “kidnappings” and encourage people to call 911, saying that there is misinformation circulating online about how and when federal authorities can arrest someone. Authorities don’t need to present a warrant when encountering someone on the street, she said; all they need is probable cause.

“If people have concerns about the conduct of federal agents, they need to seek justice in court,” she said. “That is the place to litigate the case. Not the streets.”

In a testy exchange last month, McDonnell told the City Council that even if he knew about an immigration operation beforehand, he would not alert city leaders.

The LAPD’s relationship with ICE has been the subject of intense debate on social media platforms such as Reddit, where some commenters argued that the department’s focus on policing protesters was a tacit endorsement of the federal government.

Much of the discussion has fixated on an incident that occurred last week in downtown Los Angeles in which a woman named Andrea Guadalupe Velez was detained by agents clad in bulletproof vests with gaiters over their faces.

A livestream video showed a man, Luis Hipolito, who was later arrested, asking agents for their names and badge numbers.

“I’m calling 911 right now,” he told the agents.

“911, I want to report a crime. I want to report a crime,” Hipolito is heard saying on the phone.

“What are you reporting?” an operator is heard asking.

“They’re kidnapping kids, they’re kidnapping people on Nine and Main Street,” he is heard saying. “I need LAPD right here, right now. Nine and Main Street. They’re kidnapping, they’re kidnapping people.”

After several agents were seen piling on top of Hipolito, LAPD officers arrived at the scene. They formed a line between the agents and the angry crowd, members of whom were shouting to release Hipolito.

Homeland Security’s McLaughlin said Velez “was arrested for assaulting an ICE enforcement officer.”

Federal authorities said in court filings that Velez “abruptly” stepped into the path of an agent in “an apparent effort to prevent him from apprehending the male subject he was chasing.”

Velez, a Cal Poly Pomona graduate who is 4 feet 11, allegedly stood in the path of the agent with her arms extended. The agent couldn’t stop in time and was struck in his head and chest, federal authorities allege.

Velez’s mother, Margarita Flores, was watching in her rearview mirror, having just dropped her daughter off at the scene.

Flores said she saw a man running toward her daughter and then Velez falling to the ground. Flores said the men didn’t have identification or license plates on their car.

Fearing a kidnapping, she told her other daughter, Estrella Rosas, to call the police. When the LAPD arrived, Rosas said, her sister “went running to one of the police officers in hopes that they could help her.”

“But one of the ICE agents went back after her and fully [put] her in handcuffs,” Rosas said. “He physically had to carry her to put her inside the car and they drove away in the car that had no license plates.”

Velez spent two days in a federal detention facility. Charged with assaulting a federal officer, she made her initial court appearance last week and was released on $5,000 bail. She has not yet entered a plea and is due back in court July 17.

Times staff writer Brittny Mejia contributed to this report.