Ohio man kidnaps baby, police chase, car crashes into home, child dies

TIFFIN, Ohio (AP) — A man who kidnapped a 7-month-old child in Ohio crashed his car into a house while fleeing from police, killing and seriously injuring the infant.

Officials said the incident in Tiffin occurred just before 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The Wood County Sheriff’s Office issued a warning regarding the man, whose name has not been released, after he abducted a child with a gun in North Baltimore, Ohio, earlier that day. He immediately contacted the child’s mother, telling him he was murderous and suicidal, claiming he had killed the child.

Authorities did not say if the man was related to the child or her mother, nor did they give the child’s name or the circumstances surrounding the abduction.

Tiffin Police Chief David Polley said an off-duty city employee found the vehicle and alerted police officers. A police officer then began tracking the vehicle and provided his colleague with information on the vehicle’s location.

Officers in patrol cars quickly tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver sped off the road and drove through the front yard of the house, officials said. It then crashed into another house and knocked it off the foundation.

Law enforcement officers smashed the rear window of the car to rescue the infant, who was bleeding from his head and was “breathing hard”. Both the infant and the man were taken to hospital, but the infant died shortly afterwards.

He was later flown by helicopter to a hospital in Toledo, where authorities said he was in a critical condition.