Woman Arrested In Attempted Mountain View Child Abduction
MOUNTAIN VIEW (CBS SF) -- A 31-year-old transient has been arrested after she attempted to abduct a young child from her mother on a Mountain View street, authorities said Thursday.
Mountain View police said the attempted abduction took place at 4 p.m. in the 400 block of Fairmont Ave.
Officers responded to a frantic 911 call and were greeted by a woman who said she was with her daughter and young granddaughter when a masked woman approached them on the street.
Investigators said the masked woman reached for the baby, but the grandmother intervened. The suspect then hit the grandmother, resulting in injuries to the victim's head.
The suspect -- identified as 31-year-old Schauntel Gomez -- then allegedly threatened the child's mother before driving away in a Toyota Camry.
Police said the child was not harmed nor was the mother.
After an intense search, Mountain View police officers spotted the suspect's vehicle in the Shell gas station parking lot on Rengstorff Avenue and Central Expressway at 2 a.m. Thursday.
Officers conducted a traffic stop and took Gomez into custody.
A search of her vehicle yielded drug paraphernalia, a white mask consistent with the one the victims described her wearing when she attempted to take the child, as well as mail and packages from the area.
Gomez was arrested for attempted kidnapping, criminal threats, battery and possession of drug paraphernalia.
"We were moments away from a potential tragedy involving an innocent child, and an at-large suspect capable such a heinous act was very concerning," said Chief Max Bosel in a press release.
