BRYCEVILLE, Fla. – A concerned mom and dad whose 7-month-old daughter was nearly kidnapped last week are upset that the Nassau County Sheriff's Office did not arrest the suspect until a week later.
Roy Roberts and Salina Allen were inside their home when a woman broke in and tried to take their baby, Serenity, deputies said.
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Now they want to know why the suspect in this case, 33-year-old Rose Blossom Green, was not arrested when a deputy confronted her after the attempted abduction.
Roberts said he heard Serenity crying through a baby monitor he took with him to the bathroom, and he ran into the living room and took his daughter back from the woman. Allen said she ran after the woman and confronted her down the road while they called deputies.
"I said, 'Come back.' She said, 'I want to get out of here,'" Allen said. "I said, 'You ain't going nowhere girl.' I said, 'Police is on the way.'"
The family's complaint is not that the Sheriff's Office didn't respond. They did. But it took another week before Green was arrested.
"They turned her loose at the scene without investigating what happened," Roberts said. "Whenever a child is almost abducted, I expect them to investigate, not just wait six days later, 'cause she could be out there trying to abduct somebody else's child."
"I do know the sheriff is taking this very seriously," said Capt. Greg Foster, commander of the investigations division for Sheriff Tommy Seagraves.
Serenity's parents said Seagraves agrees with them and told them that the suspect shouldn't have walked away after trying to snatch an infant.
"'And if I was there, I'd have arrested her,'" Allen said of what Seagraves told her. "But you wasn't there, and it's your job to make sure your deputies is doing their job. And apparently he wasn't doing his job."
The Sheriff's Office initially let Green go but came back to Serenity's parents for more information with other deputies and detectives.
Green was finally arrested Tuesday, charged with attempted kidnapping and burglary to an occupied home.
The family is concerned that the suspect tried to abduct their baby. By not being in custody, they said, she could be out trying to steal somebody else's baby.
"I understand," Foster said. "Like I said, it is the policy of the Sheriff's Office to take action when a crime has been reported to the agency, and that is why this matter is under review for us to determine if the appropriate actions were taken, and if not, for us to have a chance to take actions so this doesn't occur again."
The sheriff wasn't available to comment Thursday, but his statements to the family make it clear he's upset with how this case was handled.
Seagraves will review the case and then decide if discipline will take place. As of Thursday, the deputy who first responded was still on the job.