Inset: Lakesha Brown. Background: Cops take Brown into custody after she allegedly kidnapped two kids and hid them inside a trailer in Atlanta, Georgia (Atlanta Police Department).
Dramatic body camera footage showed cops in Georgia using a cinder block and bolt cutters to rescue two young children who had apparently been kidnapped by their babysitter and stuffed inside a hot trailer.
Cops took 42-year-old Lakesha Brown into custody and rescued the 4-year-old and 11-month-old girls. Brown now faces two counts each of kidnapping and child cruelty.
The incident began when the girls’ mother called 911 around 10:30 p.m. Sunday to report them missing, Atlanta police said. The mom said she had left her kids with Brown at 6 p.m. Saturday at her apartment while she went out to dinner. When she returned about four hours later, Brown and the kids were nowhere to be found, cops said.
The mom talked with Brown, who said she’d bring the kids back later. She never did, and the mom called cops.
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Cops determined the incident was an “active kidnapping” and sent out a statewide Amber Alert. They pinged Brown’s phone on Monday to a location about 5 miles from the girls’ last location. A responding officer heard a child’s cry from a trailer.
The trailer was locked. Using a cinder block and bolt cutters, cops opened the trailer. Brown and the two girls were inside. The officers carried the crying kids out of the trailer and held Brown at gunpoint, the video showed. She was taken into custody.
An arrest warrant obtained by local NBC affiliate WXIA said the trailer had no air conditioning as temperatures reached nearly 100 degrees. It was dirty and “unsuitable” for children.
“By placing and maintaining the small children in these conditions without proper authority or adequate care, Ms. Brown endangered and jeopardized their health, safety and well-being,” the warrants allege. “The children were deprived of the necessary care and sustenance required for their health and welfare.
The kids were in good condition and were checked out at a hospital before being reunited with their mother.
Brown and the girls’ mother reportedly met on a Facebook page for mothers that matches them up with potential babysitters and other services. The two knew each other for about a year before the mother had Brown babysit for her.
This is not the first time Brown allegedly kidnapped children.
The defendant is accused of doing the same thing about five years ago in Alabama. In that case, deputies with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home after an abduction of a 4-day-old boy. The boy’s grandmother, mother and Brown, described as a family friend, were at the home.
Cops said the mom was not feeling well so she went to take a nap. When she woke up, Brown and the boy were gone. She called Brown, who allegedly claimed she put him in his playpen before she left.
Brown’s social media pages had photos and claims of recently giving birth to twin boys. The pictures of the baby appeared to be the missing child, cops said.
Multiple tips came in saying that Brown “likely had taken” the boy. Cops tracked down Brown and took her into custody where she said she did not have the boy. Eventually, deputies found the boy at another location. Brown was charged with kidnapping. Her case remains ongoing and authorities issued a warrant for her arrest after she missed a court hearing.
Brown is currently in the Fulton County Jail without bond. Her next court date is not listed.
Authorities in Alabama said that “information that has been received during this investigation suggests that Brown may have attempted this type of behavior in the past.”
The post Babysitter kidnapped 2 young kids after befriending mom on Facebook group — and it’s not the first time she’s tried to pull off the stunt: Cops first appeared on Law & Crime.
