New details have emerged in the case of 1-year-old boy reportedly kidnapped by his father and grandparents earlier this week during a violent altercation with child’s mother at Target store in Los Angeles County, officials announced.
The Sept. 7 incident, which prompted an Amber Alert in Southern California, unfolded in the store’s parking lot, located in the 17700 block of Colima Road in City of Industry shortly before 11 a.m.
Investigators said that 20-year-old Dragan Antonescu approached the child’s mother and brandished a knife, while the boy’s grandparents, Viorel Illie, 48, and Marioara Illie, 40, assaulted her while forcibly snatching the child from her arms.
The 20-year-old and his parents, along with the 1-year-old, fled in a dark gray 2011 Toyota Sienna. The trio, according to investigators, may have been heading to Colorado, officials said.
The boy’s mother was left with minor injuries and taken to a hospital by ambulance for treatment.
Some eight hours later, officials with the California Highway Patrol, on behalf of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, deactivated the Amber Alert, saying only that the child had been located and recovered.
In a statement obtained by the L.A. Times, sheriff’s officials later reported that the Toyota was spotted in Winslow, Arizona, more than 500 miles from where the 1-year-old was kidnapped, by officers with the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Antonescu and his parents were arrested, and the boy, who was unharmed, was taken into protective custody.
The trio are expected to be extradited back to Los Angeles County, though officials did not say exactly when that was scheduled for.
The child’s return to Southern Californian and back to his mother was being coordinated by the L.A. County Department of Children and Family services.
Investigators said the case will be presented to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office where prosecutors will choose whether to file charges of kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and several other criminal offenses.
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