Charges filed against man accused of attempting to kidnap boy at Palm Springs hotel

Felony charges were filed today against a felon accused of trying to kidnap an 8-year-old boy, whose father came to his son's rescue at a Palm Springs hotel.

Joseph Ryan Harvey, 30, of Bermuda Dunes was taken into custody at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 400 block of South Indian Canyon Drive, less than a half-mile from the hotel where he allegedly attempted to abduct the youngster on Sunday night.

Harvey, who's being held at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning without bail, is is charged with one felony count of kidnapping and two misdemeanor counts of possessing drug paraphernalia.

The defendant is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Friday via video conference before a judge at the Banning Justice Center.

According to the Palm Springs Police Department, Harvey was identified as the suspect through witness testimony, surveillance footage and facial trauma that investigators say he suffered in the altercation with the boy's father.

Patrol officers were sent about 11:20 p.m. Sunday to a hotel in the 400 block of East Tahquitz Canyon Way and learned that the youngster was snatched while on his way to visit friends a few rooms away from where he was staying with his father, officials said. Police did not identify the hotel, but there is a Hilton property at that address.

When the boy's dad arrived at the friends' room to check on his son, he was not there, police said.

"The father began searching for his son and saw him being held by an unknown male and walking through the hotel," according to a police statement. "A confrontation occurred between the father and suspect that left the suspect with facial injuries.''

He escaped before police arrived. Police said the victim's family -- whose names were withheld -- did not know Harvey, who has a prior felony conviction in Riverside County for burglary.