A man got into a woman’s car and drove off with her 3-year-old daughter in the back seat during morning rush hour last week, deputies say. Video footage then showed him taking the girl out in her car seat and leaving her on the side of a busy road.
Willio Petioma, 35, of Boca Raton, was arrested Sunday, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said in a media release. He is now charged with kidnapping in the commission of a felony, interfering with the custody of a minor, carjacking, and illegal use of a credit card, inmate records show. He also had an open warrant in Palm Beach County for possession of cocaine and resisting an officer.
The series of events began just before 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at 850 Commercial Blvd. in Oakland Park, when the woman and her daughter got into an accident with another vehicle, according to the release. Deputies did not identify the other driver.
When the mother got out to exchange information with the other driver, the suspect, who was not involved in the accident, suddenly entered the woman’s car and began to drive away, according to the release. The mother tried to grab hold of the passenger door, yelling that her daughter was inside, but the suspect continued to drive, the car dragging her along until she fell.
Surveillance footage taken some time later shows the suspect pulled over along a busy stretch of road, taking the girl and her car seat out and leaving her on the sidewalk. Two men rush over to help. One of them points at the car in the distance.
More footage shows the suspect abandoning the car, taking off his shirt, and going to a Family Dollar store, where he used the mother’s credit card.
Petioma is being held in Broward Main Jail pending bond.