Kidnapping suspect held child in one hand and rolling pin in other, Florida cops say

A Florida sheriff’s deputy investigating a kidnapping found his suspect holding the missing toddler in one hand and a rolling pin in the other, investigators say.

What the woman intended to do with the club-like kitchen gadget was not explained, but the child was not harmed, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

It happened early Friday, March 22, in a residential area of Okaloosa Island, about a 40-mile drive east from Pensacola in the Panhandle, officials said.

“A neighbor told deputies the woman had grabbed her 2-year-old child around 11:20 a.m., locked herself and the woman’s child inside her apartment, and refused to return the toddler,” the sheriff’s office reports.

“The mother broke a window to try to get to her child. When an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived the suspect ignored his demands to turn over the child. Fearing for (the child’s) safety he climbed through the broken glass and found the woman in her living room, holding the child and a rolling pin.”

The deputy “quickly” arrested the 52-year-old woman and reclaimed the child.

When questioned about why she took the child, the suspect said “she was trying to protect her from falling down the outdoor stairs,” officials said.

She was charged with kidnapping-false imprisonment of a child under 13 and interfering with custody of a minor, jail records show. Bond was denied.

This story was originally published March 25, 2024 at 9:14 AM with the headline "Kidnapping suspect held child in one hand and rolling pin in other, Florida cops say."