A 32-year-old man is accused of kidnapping a 5-year-old boy from a bus stop in New Haven, Connecticut, in an incident that prompted an AMBER Alert, police said.
New Haven police said they responded to a home on September 14 for what was initially reported as a domestic dispute. Investigators later determined that the incident involved the abduction of a child.
Police said the boy’s mother told investigators that she and Christopher Rodriguez had been involved in an argument in another Connecticut town. Rodriguez allegedly left the woman, drove to New Haven and picked up her 5-year-old son from a bus stop.
Rodriguez is not the child’s father, according to police. When the mother contacted him and asked him to return the child, police said he refused.
AMBER Alert issued
Police said Rodriguez threatened that he would engage officers in a pursuit and kill the mother and child if authorities were contacted.
An AMBER Alert and a statewide BOLO were issued as officers attempted to locate him. Detectives and crisis negotiators eventually established communication with Rodriguez.
During negotiations, police said Rodriguez made statements indicating he believed officers were following him and repeatedly threatened to intentionally crash his vehicle.
After several hours, investigators convinced Rodriguez to release the child. Police said he turned the boy over to a tow-truck driver in Bridgeport, who was directed to bring the child back toward New Haven.
Suspect arrested in Branford
Rodriguez was located at a hotel in Branford on September 17 and taken into custody.
He is charged with first-degree kidnapping, risk of injury to a minor and two counts of second-degree breach of peace, along with being a fugitive from justice. Police said he also had outstanding warrants, including a New York parole violation connected to an underlying second-degree murder charge.
His bond was set at $300,000.
The child was safely recovered, according to police.