‘A lady almost tried to kidnap my baby': Quick-thinking mom, beauty school thwarts kidnapping

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Police say a woman tried to snatch a 10-month-old girl who was with her mother a Casselberry shopping plaza.

When the mother and daughter tried to get away, police say the woman followed her and tried to kidnap the little girl again.

According to Casselberry police, the mother and her baby were leaving the Hollywood Institute of Beauty School Thursday afternoon when 39-year-old Rita Ramirez approached them.

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“She was surprised,” Casselberry police Cmdr. William Nas said. “She was walking with her toddler and somebody from the opposite direction tried to grab the baby.”

The mother grabbed her little girl and ran back into the business, police said.

According to the arrest report, Ramirez followed the two into the beauty school where she kept trying to take the baby. The beauty school employees stepped in and got Ramirez out of the store, police said.

WATCH BELOW: Surveillance video of the alleged attempted abduction

Police said the mother called 911 as she followed Ramirez to a nearby car wash, where police arrested her.

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When officers questioned her, police said Ramirez replied, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did.”

Police said when they asked Ramirez why she tried to take the child, she said she didn’t know.

The mother told police that she does not know Ramirez.

Ramirez told police she does not have medical issues or mental illness, but Channel 9 learned while Ramirez was in court Thursday that she was once found incompetent to stand trial in an battery case in 2016.

A judge called Ramirez “a danger to herself and others,” and ordered her held without bond.

Cox Media Group