TIJUANA – An elderly man was found dead on a street in the city’s east side, the apparent victim of a kidnapping attempt, authorities announced Monday.

Two people who witnessed the crime were injured, said the state Attorney General’s Office, which identified the man who died as Fidel Ruiz Rocha, 75. He was found covered with a piece of white cloth and his wrists were bound.

The victim had a wound on his head and a laceration on his left wrist. However, an initial police report indicated that he may have died of a heart attack during the kidnapping attempt.

The body was found around 10 p.m. Sunday between Viñedo and Nogal streets, in the neighborhood known as La Morita II, in the La Presa district.

A few blocks from there, on Pera Street, police found a black Volkswagen Passat, without plates, and a short distance from there, in a residential street toward the old Tecate highway, was a Chevrolet Avalanche pickup, with license plate BP43805.

Authorities believe both vehicles were used in the kidnapping attempt. Police found gray adhesive tape and a bag with six bullets inside the pickup.

The state Attorney General’s Office did not disclose the identity of the two injured people, other than to say they witnessed the attempted kidnapping.

As of Monday night, no suspects had been detained in the case.

The kidnapping occurs at a time when the pace of homicides has increased in the last few months. Some experts have expressed concern that criminal cells, weakened by internal fighting and the arrest of their leaders, are gaining strength once more.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com