OHIO — A man has been arrested after an alleged kidnapping and vehicle theft involving a 6-year-old child Friday morning in Elyria, according to police.
The Elyria Police Department said officers responded around 11:11 a.m. to the FriendShip Kitchen gas station on Beechwood Drive following a report of a child abduction and stolen vehicle.
Police said a 27-year-old woman had been traveling in the area of Interstate 90 and state Route 57 with her child and the child’s father, identified as 31-year-old Luis Manuel Gonzalez Rodriguez.
According to investigators, during an argument, the woman exited the vehicle. Police said Rodriguez then entered the driver’s seat and drove away with the child still inside.
Authorities said the woman was briefly on the hood of the vehicle as Rodriguez fled before he stopped and allowed her to get off. Police said he then continued driving away with the child, the woman’s vehicle and her cell phone.
When the woman went to the gas station to contact police, officers determined Rodriguez does not have custodial rights to the child.
A Be on the Lookout alert was issued, and the child was entered into law enforcement databases as an endangered missing juvenile while the vehicle was reported stolen.
Police said the unoccupied vehicle was located around 12:20 p.m. at a storage facility on Toledo Avenue in Lorain.
Officers later located Rodriguez and the child around 1:50 p.m. on 39th Street in Lorain. Rodriguez was taken into custody without incident, and the child was safely recovered and reunited with his mother.
Rodriguez has been charged with two counts of kidnapping, child endangering, interference with custody, motor vehicle theft and theft.
He was booked into the Lorain County Jail, where he is being held without bond pending his initial court appearance.
The investigation remains ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to contact Elyria police.
