Kidnapper Who Abandoned 5-Year-Old Arrested At Gambrills Target: Police

GLEN BURNIE, MD — A car thief who took a 5-year-old boy on a wild ride Aug. 14 when a man jumped into a car and sped away from a Glen Burnie convenience store has been charged with kidnapping and other crimes. Authorities took the suspect into custody while he was allegedly panhandling outside a Gambrills Target store.

Authorities released surveillance images of the suspect after the car theft. On Thursday police said they had arrested Eric Dewayne Arnold, 30, of the 300 block of Mountain Ridge Court in Glen Burnie on charges of motor vehicle theft and abduction. The youngster was abandoned on a Baltimore city street, according to Anne Arundel County Police, and found unharmed as police officers with canines, and helicopter units, searched for the pair.

On Wednesday afternoon police officers responded to the Target at 2384 Brandermill Boulevard in Gambrills for a report of a panhandler in the parking lot. Officers reportedly identified the man who was soliciting money from store customers as Arnold, and took him into custody.

The abduction and car theft happened about 5:20 p.m. on Aug. 14 at the Royal Farms Store, 200 Oak Manor Road in Glen Burnie. The child's mother told officers while she was standing next to her vehicle talking to a friend, a man now identified as Arnold approached her and asked her for spare change or a ride. The woman replied that she had no money and continued talking with her friend, only to watch as Arnold reportedly jumped into her vehicle and sped away.

While officers searched the area, the child was recovered by Baltimore City Police in the 1100 block of North Fetter Street after someone saw him walking on the sidewalk. The child was reunited with his mother.

Authorities later recovered the stolen vehicle near 1500 North Fulton Avenue in Baltimore City.

Photo of Eric Dewayne Arnold, courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police