Police have arrested a woman suspected of kidnapping a 4-year-old girl from a Santa Monica restaurant, authorities said.
At approximately 12:10 a.m. Friday, the Santa Monica Police Department received an emergency call from a woman whose 4-year-old granddaughter had been abducted from a restaurant in the 1900 block of Lincoln Avenue. Responding officers collected video of the suspected kidnapper, a woman in her 30s, and forwarded the images to other units, according to police.
More than 30 police and civilian personnel swarmed the area looking for the child and the kidnapper. Nearly 30 minutes after the 911 call, police found the kidnapped girl and the suspect at a Holiday Inn motel less than half a mile from the restaurant. The child was not injured, according to police.
Breanna Shields, 31, was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, a felony punishable by up to 11 years in prison. Police said Shields had been living at the motel for a long time.
Her bail is set at $100,000. She is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
