Mom reports baby was kidnapped in stolen car — but it was a ploy, Washington cops say
A 19-year-old woman told police her car had been stolen while her 3-month-old daughter was inside, Washington authorities said.
But police discovered the story was bogus.
The mother made up the kidnapping thinking it was “the only way” officers would look for the car and find her items on Oct. 28, the Seattle Police Department said in a news release.
A witness to the incident told police the woman had been driving a rented blue 2020 Toyota Corolla when she nearly struck pedestrians crossing the street.
The woman got out of the car and fought with the two people, police said, while an “unknown” person entered the car and drove off.
Then the mother was driven to a hospital by a friend to be treated for minor injuries she told police she received from holding onto the car “as it sped away with her child inside.”
Police notified the Washington State Patrol and began working on sending out an Amber Alert — a child abduction emergency alert.
Officers also began searching for the missing child in the nearby neighborhood and in Kent.
Then the child’s father called. The baby was safe with her grandmother whom she had been staying with for the past two days, police said.
The child’s safety was confirmed by police.
The mother was arrested and booked into the King County Jail on a false reporting charge.
Three people, who were friends with the 19-year-old, were arrested hours later after they were accused of trying to steal a 2021 Toyota Corolla, police said. They said they thought the vehicle was the 19-year-old’s stolen car, but it was not.
One of the suspects, a 22-year-old woman, fired her gun multiple times after demanding car keys from the driver of the 2021 Toyota Corolla, police said.
She and her two friends were arrested on charges of attempted first-degree robbery and drive-by shooting.
The 22-year-old woman also faces additional charges, including first-degree assault and possession of a stolen firearm.
Authorities have not recovered the stolen vehicle.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Mom reports baby was kidnapped in stolen car — but it was a ploy, Washington cops say."
