Boys kidnapped in Walmart parking lot call 911 from SUV traveling 120 mph, PA cops say
Gettysburg PA Nov 24, 2022
While a dad got out of his SUV to go inside Walmart, another man jumped in and took off with the father’s three boys in the backseat, according to authorities in Pennsylvania.
The kidnapped boys called 911, and one of them said he was in a vehicle with a driver “he believed was drunk,” Pennsylvania State Police said in an affidavit filed Nov. 20, the date of the incident.
The children — ages 15, 12 and 7 — begged the man to slow down or stop, but he refused to do so, according to court records. At one point, the driver struck a curb, causing “significant damage.”
As the 44-year-old man continued speeding away from the Gettysburg Walmart, the kids gave authorities updated locations to help troopers find them, officials said.
Responding troopers headed their direction and attempted to catch up while driving over 120 mph, according to the affidavit filed in Adams County.
The troopers caught up to the Toyota RAV4, which had its hazards on, but the driver refused to slow down or yield, authorities said. One of the troopers was then able to get in front of the SUV, and they boxed the vehicle in.
“I opened the door and gave him verbal commands to get out,” one of the troopers wrote in the affidavit. “As he did, the vehicle kept rolling forward until he put it into park.”
The driver, who was “visibly intoxicated,” was handcuffed, authorities said. Troopers observed “he had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage about his breath … as well as glassy blood shot eyes.”
Authorities said they asked him how drunk he was, and he replied “really drunk, I’ve been drinking a lot man.”
The driver admitted he stole the vehicle because he ran out of gas and needed to get to Harrisburg, about 40 miles northeast of Gettysburg, according to court records. He said he was heading there to buy heroine, according to the records.
The man also said he did hear the kids in the backseat, but he continued driving anyway, authorities said.
He was charged with three counts of kidnapping, three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, theft of a motor vehicle, fleeing and eluding a police officer and DUI offenses.
