A video shared online shows a carjacker stealing a vehicle with a woman’s baby and cat inside.
Willio Petioma, 35, was charged with kidnapping, carjacking, interfering with custody of a minor and illegal use of a credit card in relation to the incident, the Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed to NBC Miami on Monday (July 1). The incident took place last Wednesday (June 26) after the mother and her 3-year-old daughter were involved in a crash with a vehicle driven by Petioma.
The suspect got out of his own vehicle and into the woman’s car, driving away with her child and cat still inside. The woman grabbed the vehicle’s door and yelled that her child was still inside before Petioma drove away, dragging her in the process.
“Out of nowhere this guy came inside the car and I grabbed onto the car and I was telling him ‘my baby my baby!'” said the mother, who didn’t want to be identified, via NBC Miami on Friday (June 28), two days prior to the suspect’s arrest on Sunday (June 30).
Dashcam footage released by BSO showed the suspect removing the child, who remained in her car seat, from the vehicle before leaving her on the side walk. Two people were seen approaching the girl to help her moments later.
“I was just scared, like, how things are right now everywhere in the world,” the mother told NBC Miami. “I was just thinking maybe I wasn’t going to see her again or something and I was just scared, because she’s a little baby.”
The woman said her cat was in the vehicle as they were driving to a veterinarian at the time of the incident. The feline was found safe after the suspect left the vehicle, which was captured on surveillance footage.
Another video showed the suspect using the victim’s credit card at a Family Dollar store. Petioma was booked into BSO Main Jail and also arrested on a Palm Beach County warrant for possession of cocaine and resisting an officer.
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