WARDEN, WA- Authorities said that they have arrested a woman for allegedly stealing a car with a baby in the backseat. According to KREM, the incident happened on Wednesday, October 16th, around 10:30 a.m.
The Grant County Sheriff's Office (GSCO) said that they responded to calls about a stolen car from Main Street in Warden and that the vehicle had a two-month-old baby inside. Police were able to use traffic cameras to locate the car on Road U-Southeast. Nearly 15 minutes later and another 12 miles away, a caller reported that there was a car driving erratically, in and out of the ditch near Road 3-Northeast and Road S-Northeast in rural Moses Lake.
A deputy who was responding to the initial call found the stolen vehicle stopped in the middle of Road 3-Northeast between Road S-Northeast and Road T-Northeast. The deputy was able to take the suspect, 21-year-old Rita Gabriella Lozano, into custody. The infant, thankfully, was not injured and was reunited safely with their family.
Authorities said that Lozano was handcuffed and placed into the back of a police car, but she was able to crawl from the back seat into the front seat and drive away. The road was closed for nearly an hour while officers attempted to stop Lozano. The vehicle was stopped about one-mile away when two Sheriff's Deputies used their vehicles to pin the stolen police car.
Lozano was taken into custody a second time and transported by ambulance to Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake for a medical evaluation as deputies believed she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Lozano was the transported to the Grant County Jail. Lozano faces charges including kidnapping, DUI, and theft of a motor vehicle. According to reports, the infant's father, Eddie Perez said, "I can't trust no one nowadays. Can't trust anyone. I never thought this would happen to us."
GCSO said that one deputy suffered minor injuries during the incident and three police cars were injured. In a separate incident, a four-year-old child who was kidnapped by her mother in Connecticut was found in Puerto Rico and has been returned to her father. The mother has been charged with risk of injury to a minor and second-degree reckless endangerment after exposing the child to "dangerous altercations" with their father.
She took the child to Puerto Rico and appeared in court back on September 27th, in Connecticut without the child. She was then charged with kidnapping and custodial interference. The child was found with the mother's boyfriend in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. In New York City, a mask-wearing armed man tried to grab a two-year-old from her mother. The incident happened outside of a laundromat near Atlantic Avenue and 109th Street in South Richmond Hill.
The mother said, "He cornered me and he ran into me and took out a knife and told me, 'That's my baby.' He told me to give him the girl. He scared me." She said, "I screamed for someone to help me. I just screamed ... I pulled myself together despite the knife and my daughter and I started running and screaming ... I didn't let go of her for one moment." A passing minivan stopped when the students who were onboard saw her running frantically with the child. The cops arrived a few minutes later.
Police told the woman that they had grabbed the man, later identified as Peter Vonderhofen, at a home nearby and took her to identify him. Vonderhofen is being held on a $30,000 bail. He has been charged with attempted kidnapping, criminal possession of a weapon, acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, and menacing. Police said that the suspect is also linked to two armed robberies that were carried out near the same intersection.
The Grant County Sheriff's Office (GSCO) said that they responded to calls about a stolen car from Main Street in Warden and that the vehicle had a two-month-old baby inside. Police were able to use traffic cameras to locate the car on Road U-Southeast. Nearly 15 minutes later and another 12 miles away, a caller reported that there was a car driving erratically, in and out of the ditch near Road 3-Northeast and Road S-Northeast in rural Moses Lake.
A deputy who was responding to the initial call found the stolen vehicle stopped in the middle of Road 3-Northeast between Road S-Northeast and Road T-Northeast. The deputy was able to take the suspect, 21-year-old Rita Gabriella Lozano, into custody. The infant, thankfully, was not injured and was reunited safely with their family.
Authorities said that Lozano was handcuffed and placed into the back of a police car, but she was able to crawl from the back seat into the front seat and drive away. The road was closed for nearly an hour while officers attempted to stop Lozano. The vehicle was stopped about one-mile away when two Sheriff's Deputies used their vehicles to pin the stolen police car.
Lozano was taken into custody a second time and transported by ambulance to Samaritan Healthcare in Moses Lake for a medical evaluation as deputies believed she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Lozano was the transported to the Grant County Jail. Lozano faces charges including kidnapping, DUI, and theft of a motor vehicle. According to reports, the infant's father, Eddie Perez said, "I can't trust no one nowadays. Can't trust anyone. I never thought this would happen to us."
GCSO said that one deputy suffered minor injuries during the incident and three police cars were injured. In a separate incident, a four-year-old child who was kidnapped by her mother in Connecticut was found in Puerto Rico and has been returned to her father. The mother has been charged with risk of injury to a minor and second-degree reckless endangerment after exposing the child to "dangerous altercations" with their father.
She took the child to Puerto Rico and appeared in court back on September 27th, in Connecticut without the child. She was then charged with kidnapping and custodial interference. The child was found with the mother's boyfriend in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. In New York City, a mask-wearing armed man tried to grab a two-year-old from her mother. The incident happened outside of a laundromat near Atlantic Avenue and 109th Street in South Richmond Hill.
The mother said, "He cornered me and he ran into me and took out a knife and told me, 'That's my baby.' He told me to give him the girl. He scared me." She said, "I screamed for someone to help me. I just screamed ... I pulled myself together despite the knife and my daughter and I started running and screaming ... I didn't let go of her for one moment." A passing minivan stopped when the students who were onboard saw her running frantically with the child. The cops arrived a few minutes later.
Police told the woman that they had grabbed the man, later identified as Peter Vonderhofen, at a home nearby and took her to identify him. Vonderhofen is being held on a $30,000 bail. He has been charged with attempted kidnapping, criminal possession of a weapon, acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, and menacing. Police said that the suspect is also linked to two armed robberies that were carried out near the same intersection.
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