The 4-year-old was abducted Friday afternoon from a Panda Express restaurant in Santa Monica while in the care of her grandmother. Darsha Phillips reports for the NBC4 News on July 12, 2024.
A woman was taken into custody Friday after a 4-year-old child she allegedly abducted was found by officers at a motel in Santa Monica.
The child was abducted at approximately 12:11 p.m. from a Panda Express restaurant in the 19000 block of Lincoln Boulevard while in the care of her grandmother, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.
The grandmother was ordering food when 31-year-old Clarissa Sheilds lured the child away and walked her down the street.
Authorities called in all available field resources, including more than 30 civilian and sworn personnel.
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Officers gathered video images of Shields from Panda Express surveillance cameras to track them down at the Holiday Motel on 11th Street and Pico Boulevard.
"We had our drone overhead we had a k9 officer, we had officers assigned to our foot beat who came over and started looking," said Erika Alufi with Santa Monica PD. "It was just the suspect and the child when the officers came in there was no struggle there was no resistance at all with the suspect. The child was in really good spirits all things considered."
The child was unharmed and Shields was taken into custody.
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The woman appeared to have been a resident at the Holiday Motel for an extended period, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.
"The detectives are over at the motel searching just to see if they can find anything to indicate if there was some kind of motive attached to it or if there was some kind of a plan afterward," said Alufi.
