Child, 4, Kidnapped From LI Laundromat Saturday: Police

PATCHOGUE, NY — A Patchogue man was arrested Saturday after kidnapping a child from a laundromat, police said.

According to Suffolk County police, the incident took place at 12:08 p.m. on East Main Street. While a woman was with her two children at the laundromat, Carlos Corte, who was unknown to the woman, led her 4-year-old daughter out the back exit, police said.

Her mother reported her missing, and patrol officers responded to the scene, where they reviewed surveillance video and began canvassing the area, police said.

During the search, the mother located her daughter in the children’s play area of the Patchogue-Medford Library on East Main Street, police said.

A patrol officer then located Corte near the laundromat and took him into custody, police said.

Following an investigation by Fifth Squad detectives, Corte, 38, was charged with second-degree kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child, and also for an outstanding warrant, police said.

Corte was slated to be held overnight at the Sixth Precinct and was scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on March 29, police said.