Caught on cam: Mother chases kidnappers, rips off license plate to save baby boy's life
Female suspects accused of kidnapping a toddler are captured on video from a surveillance camera in a motel parking lot on Oct. 17 in Garland, Texas. (Garland Police Department/Zenger)
Police in Texas have arrested two women allegedly involved in kidnapping a toddler and are searching for two other suspected accomplices.
The investigation remains active. The baby boy and his mother were in a motel room when the mother heard a knock at the door, police said.
Investigators believe the mother opened the door thinking it was a friend," police said. "Three women rushed inside the room and immediately overpowered the mother and took her child. Officers retrieved surveillance video that showed the three women arriving at the motel in a black SUV. The video shows the SUV parking in the back parking lot of the motel and the three women exiting. The women are seen waiting at the back door until it is opened from inside. Moments later, the women are seen exiting the same door carrying the infant and running to the SUV. The mother chased after them and was able to remove the front license plate from the kidnappers’ vehicle before they were able to flee the parking lot.
In a statement posted on Facebook on Oct. 19, police said: “The responding officers identified the SUV as a black Jeep Renegade from the license plate the mother obtained. Officers immediately began checking the area and one Garland officer observed the SUV driving on Northwest Highway near LBJ Freeway just inside Dallas.
“Officers conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle and observed that it was occupied by a woman driver, an 11-year-old juvenile, and the kidnapped infant. The infant was unharmed and safely returned to his mother.”
Lashonda Price, 34, of Seagoville was arrested on Oct. 19 and taken to Dallas County Jail. Bond was set at $20,000. It was not known at the time of this report whether she met bail.
"Romeisha Brown, one of the suspects in the kidnapping, turned herself in at the Garland Detention Center last night, October 20, around 8:00 pm.," police said. "Investigators were able to identify the third suspect involved in the kidnapping as 41-year-old Kemberly Suzanne Williams. Williams was located this morning October 21, just after 12:30 am, at a motel in the 3600 block of Leon Road. Both individuals are in the Garland Detention Center on charges of Kidnapping. No bond has been set."
Neither the relationship of the 11-year-old to the suspect nor the juvenile’s identity was reported.
“Investigators believe this to be an isolated-targeted incident where the involved suspects knew the victim. This is still an active investigation.”