Man who took Tacoma 2-year-old home in his car won’t be charged, prosecutors say
No charges will be filed against a man who left a Tacoma Wendy’s location with a 2-year-old girl on June 14, leading authorities to investigate the incident as a possible kidnapping and issue an Amber Alert that was canceled shortly afterward when the child was located and returned to her family.
“The evidence does not show any criminal intent by the person who left with the child,” Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Adam Faber wrote in an email. “Tacoma Police detectives interviewed the suspect that day and did not arrest him for this incident after that interview. The information we have is that the child was not harmed when with the suspect. The father of the child stated publicly that he appreciated the suspect’s actions and does not want to see him charged.”
The News Tribune reported based on Tacoma police news releases and social media posts that the girl’s mother called authorities at 9:30 a.m. June 14 to say that her daughter was missing from a residence in the 4200 block of South Prospect Street. An employee at a nearby business called to report that a man had recently entered the business, saying that he had found a child alone outside and was looking for her parents. When the employee told him that police would be called to help, the man left with the girl in his silver sedan.
After an extensive search by police and personnel from other agencies, and an Amber Alert issued at 11:42 a.m., the girl was located at the man’s home at 12:06 p.m. with the help of a tip from the public. She was returned safely to her family, and police took the man into custody and interviewed his friends and family. He was booked into the Pierce County Jail on an outstanding warrant, The News Tribune reported.
The girl’s father later expressed gratitude to the man who took her, saying that he saved his daughter in a reply to the Tacoma Police Department’s post about the incident, and defending the man’s actions in an interview with KING 5.
Faber wrote in his email that they “encourage people who find an unattended child to call the police rather than leave with the child.”
