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Police: 4-Year-Old Kidnapped While Playing Outside Home; Suspect In Custody

BALTIMORE CO., Md. (WJZ) -- A woman is in custody after police say she snatched a 4-year-old while he was playing outside his home.

The Baltimore County Police Department reports this incident happened just before 8 p.m. on June 15.

Officers were called to the 100 block of Back River Neck Rd. about a fight. Responding officers were told that a woman had just kidnapped a child.

The victim's mother told police she was watching her 4-year-old son play outside their home in the 1600 block of Renaissance Dr. When she went to the garage to get her son's toy, she heard her son's scooter hit the ground, but when she came back, she was unable to find her son.

Neighbors said they saw a woman grab the 4-year-old and walk towards Back River Neck Rd.

"We walked to the house--we saw our neighbors yelling his name out," neighbor Shawday Jenkins said. "So that's--I put two and two together."

They were able to find the woman, who was still holding the boy, but she reportedly refused to release him.

"She was bear hugging him hard. Like, she wasn't letting him go," Jenkins said.

The boy's mother and neighbors were eventually able to get the 4-year-old away from the woman, but the child did suffer minor injuries.

Police say the child and his mother did not know the woman.

The suspect is in custody, but has not yet been formally charged with kidnapping. Her name will not be released until she is charged.

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