A 56-year-old Florida woman, Nicole Terry Thomas, has been arrested in Lakeland, Fla., following an alleged attempt to kidnap a 9-year-old boy from his babysitter, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported.
Thomas allegedly arrived at a residence, claiming to be from Child Protective Services (CPS), and demanded the babysitter surrender the child, saying the boy was in immediate danger. The incident escalated when Thomas called 911 herself, but the babysitter, suspicious of the claim, had already contacted the child’s parents.
The investigation commenced when officers were dispatched to the scene following a 911 call placed by Thomas, who said she was requesting assistance with “the removal of children from a home,” according to the official statement released by authorities, as People reported.
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However, speaking with witnesses, authorities found discrepancies in Thomas’s account, which led them to doubt her claims and deepen the investigation.
In an excerpt of an arrest affidavit shared by the sheriff’s office, police allege that Thomas came to the residence of the babysitter, 28-year-old Nyasia Brooks, along with the child’s biological mother.
The 9-year-old informed Brooks that an individual from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) had arrived to take him away.
Thomas allegedly identified herself as a case worker to Brooks and claimed she was there to take the child to his biological mother. When Brooks refused to comply, Thomas allegedly threatened to remove the other children in Brooks’s care, per the sheriff’s office. This confrontation escalated when Brooks, suspecting Thomas was not a genuine case worker, stood her ground.
Thomas then appeared to be making a call and saying on the phone that “she would be working late due to finding homes for all of the children she was going to be removing,” police alleged in the affidavit. She, however, did not present any proof identifying herself as a DCF employee or any official court order authorizing the removal of a child. She repeatedly refused to leave when asked, police said.
The child’s biological mother has mental disabilities, the statement claims, and had initially met Thomas at a local church. The mother subsequently told police that Thomas informed her that she was an employee with DCF and claimed she could assist in retrieving the child from the current caretaker and help the mother get her “life back on track,” according to the affidavit.
The biological mother is not currently facing any charges in connection with the incident.
Thomas has since been charged with four counts of attempted kidnapping, unarmed burglary, two counts of criminal action, trespassing, and misuse of 911.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd commented on the case, noting that she admitted she “should have known better.” According to CBS12, Judd said, “She impersonated a government employee, threatened to take four children, and even called 911 to try to get a deputy to help her pull it all off.”
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