PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – A Palatka man was arrested Thursday morning and accused of kidnapping after he allegedly took a 5-year-old child from a home he was visiting.
According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Jonathan Dumas, 41, was visiting with the victim’s mother late Wednesday evening outside a Coral Farms Road residence in Florahome when the mother went inside to check on her other two children at about 1:30 a.m. At about 2 a.m. when she went back outside the mother discovered Dumas and her child were missing.
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The mother told deputies that while Dumas would visit the child, he was not the father and had no custodial rights to take the child anywhere without permission.
Using license plate readers, LPRs, deputies were able to locate Dumas based on the vehicle description given by the mother.
“When people ask why law enforcement utilizes LPRs, this is a perfect example,” Sheriff H.D. ‘Gator’ DeLoach said. “Deputies were able to work quickly to find this child and recovery her safe and unharmed.”
Dumas initially fled from deputies when they attempted a traffic stop, the sheriff’s office said. After a short pursuit into the city of Palatka, deputies were able to block his vehicle on East Lake Street. Deputies noted Dumas appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Dumas was arrested and taken to the Putnam County Jail and charged with kidnapping of a child under 13, child neglect and two counts of resisting an officer without violence.