A woman is accused of abducting her 5-year-old son from an Ohio daycare after a protection order had deemed her a danger to the boy, according to police.
Jodi Littlefield, 34, allegedly pushed through daycare employees who instructed her not to enter, forcibly grabbed her child from the Green Township care facility and drove off with him on Thursday, September 10, the Green Township Police Department said.
She is accused of taking the boy from Arches Oak Hills Childcare, WXIX-TV reported.
Littlefield drove “across the grass to evade people attempting to stop her,” authorities said in a news release.
This allegedly led to a police chase and her arrest.
A “BOLO” (be on the lookout) notice for Littlefield was immediately sent to law enforcement agencies in Hamilton County, according to police.
About an hour later, Cincinnati police officers saw Littlefield’s vehicle near the city’s Mount Adams neighborhood and pursued her, authorities said.
“Littlefield refused to stop but was ultimately taken into custody by Cincinnati Police,” police said. Reports noted that a taser was used on her before she was booked.
She was arrested on multiple charges, including violation of a protection order, interference with custody, abduction, burglary, child endangering, resisting arrest, and failure to comply, according to authorities.
Her son was said to be unharmed and was returned to his father.
Following the alleged abduction, police learned Littlefield was considered a danger to her son under a domestic violence civil protection order, which prevents her from being within 500 feet of the boy, according to police.
She’s also not supposed to have “contact with him except under very limited circumstances.”
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Littlefield had retained legal counsel or entered a plea.
She was booked at the Hamilton County Justice Center.
Littlefield was expected to appear in court the morning of Friday, September 11, per WXIX-TV.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, about 260,000 children are abducted in the U.S. annually. In most situations, around 200,000, a parent or relative is allegedly involved in abducting the child.
“In many cases, family abductions occur in the midst of bitter divorce or child custody battles,” the center reports. “While family abductions usually do not present the same threats as stranger abductions, these are very serious criminal offenses that can have devastating effects on children and parents.”
