OAKLAND — Kidnapping, assault and other charges have been filed against the parents and maternal grandmother of a 2-year-old girl abducted by force May 20 from her paternal grandmother who had legal custody of her, according to authorities and court documents.
The three were arrested and the girl was recovered uninjured some 12 hours later at the maternal grandmother’s East Oakland home.
The three suspects, maternal grandmother Chalita West, 49, and the parents, Tamira Claggion, 24, and Andrew Coleman, 26, were each charged Friday with kidnapping, assault with force likely to create great bodily injury, first-degree residential burglary and unlawful child detention, all felonies. West was also charged with a misdemeanor count of giving false information to a police officer.
The abduction happened about 12:30 p.m. May 20 at the 39th Street home of the paternal grandmother who currently has legal custody of the toddler.
A court hearing about custody is scheduled for next month. According to court documents, Andrew Coleman was allowed into the home “under the guise of obtaining court paperwork” that was at the residence.
When Coleman was given the paperwork from his mother, she was suddenly rushed by the other two women, the documents say.
Claggion allegedly punched and scratched the victim’s face, while Coleman pushed her to the living room floor and held her down, the documents say. West then allegedly kicked the victim’s legs and brandished a handgun from her purse, according to court records.
The paternal grandmother sustained numerous injuries to her face and body.
Upon hearing her daughter crying, Claggion went into the bedroom where she was and took her, the documents say. The three suspects then fled in a vehicle with the girl.
Police confirmed with county officials that the paternal grandmother was the legal guardian of the girl with sole custody pending the June court appearance.
Police were able to determine through cell phone information that the suspects were possibly at West’s East Oakland home and an Amber alert was also issued for the child by the California Highway Patrol.
When police went to West’s East Oakland home late in the night of May 20, she allegedly gave another name and refused to allow them inside to search for the child, the records say.
But when the suspects realized police were not going to leave the area, they surrendered within a short time and told officers where the girl was in the home, the documents say. She was found and was reunited with her paternal grandmother.
West has pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against her and is being held in lieu of $230,000 bail at Santa Rita Jail pending a June 4 pre-trial hearing. Coleman and Claggion were scheduled to enter pleas on May 27. They are both being held in lieu of $220,000 bail at Santa Rita.
