Background: Miami International Airport (Google Maps). Inset: Alvina Agba (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A woman who claimed she was only trying to calm down a 4-year-old boy at a Florida airport is charged with allegedly trying to take the boy from his mother.
Alvina Agba, 23, was arrested on Tuesday after the Miami-Dade County Sheriff”s Office said she tried to run off with another woman’s child. According to an arrest report obtained by local CBS affiliate WFOR, Agba — who police say is from England — saw the mother and son standing at a checkout counter at the Miami International Airport on Tuesday morning. Police said the boy was crying, and Agba reportedly offered to help calm him down. The boy’s mother allowed Agba to hold her son.
But then, Agba allegedly walked away from the line, the boy still in her arms.
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The police report states the boy’s mother followed Agba and told her to give back her son. Agba allegedly refused, telling the mother, “No, this is my child.” Fox News Digital reported that Agba then sat down on the floor and wrapped her arms and legs around the boy to keep him still. While on the floor, Agba also allegedly pushed the boy’s mother away.
When witnesses finally pulled the boy from Agba, she allegedly tried to yank him back.
Police said that a witness at the scene, Naylet Montano, pried the boy from Agba and ran behind a counter. Agba allegedly screamed at her to “give back her child.” Montano told WFOR, “The woman on the ground got up and tried to take the boy back from me. I wouldn’t let her. I ran behind the counter and crouched down to protect the boy. She tried to get under the counter. But when police got there, she ran away.”
The arrest report stated that three men nearby stood between Montano and Agba to prevent Agba from taking the boy.
Sheriff’s deputies apprehended Agba at an airport checkpoint. Police said that when questioned, Agba claimed that she was taking the boy to a wall with a rainbow on it as a way to calm him down. After telling police that she “didn’t remember” what happened after the boy’s mother ordered her to give her child back, she allegedly claimed, “[s]he only did it because God told her to do it.”
Agba was charged with interference of custody, a felony, and two misdemeanor counts of battery. She is currently being held at Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation. Agba was expected to appear before a judge later on Tuesday, according to WFOR.
