A New York man charged with kidnapping a young daughter and her mother in Ansonia was arraigned in Derby Superior Court on Monday, with bail set at $50,000.
“The co-pilot on site met with the complainant who reported that his sister and 6-month-old niece had been removed from the area by her sister and niece’s boyfriend and father,” Lt. Patrick Lynch said. Lynch told News 12 that women and children were visiting from New York.
According to court documents, they were at a family party when Lopez showed up, demanded his daughter and threatened those in attendance. Witnesses described him as “verbally combative” and “angry.” Police reports said people told Lopez he couldn’t take his daughter and brought up a protection order barring him from contacting his mother, a pending third-degree assault in New York. Issued in connection with the incident.
When told to leave, Lopez said, “Oh, you guys want to act like that, but look what I’m going to do,” and goes to the trunk of the car and grabs something. At the time, most of the family returned home thinking he had a gun because “he was known to be very violent,” reports said.
Police said Lopez forced a woman holding a baby into the car and took off.
Police soon posted about the incident on social media, including photos and a description of the car Lopez was driving. Shelton police found and took Lopez into custody around 7 p.m. Women and children were not with him at the time.
In court on Monday, a judge issued a new protective order banning contact with children as well as women. rice field.
The judge said the protection order could be amended in the future, but for now, Lopez won’t see his child or his mother.