A baby was found safe and a woman was in custody after a kidnapping at Pennsylvania mall, according to police.
Charges against the woman, who was not immediately identified, were pending.
The ordeal began around 5:30 p.m. Thursday when Upper Merion Township Police responded to the food court area of the King of Prussia plaza for a reported abduction. Family members said 7-week-old Ahsir Simmons had been kidnapped by a stranger.
Ahsir's mother told police the suspect befriended her and her children, and they all went to the food court together.
"The child began to fuss and the suspect asked to hold the child to calm him," Upper Merion Police Chief Tom Nolan said. "While dealing with those other children on the phone our suspect walks off with the baby from the food court."
Police say the suspect walked up a set of stairs and then walked by the Bonefish Grill before exiting the mall. Surveillance video showed the suspect, a woman between the ages of 25 and 30 with purple and black dreadlocks, leaving the mall with the baby boy in her arms.
Police stopped cars as they left the mall as well as SEPTA buses. The FBI assisted with the search and an AMBER ALERT was issued late Thursday night.
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During a news conference around 10:30 p.m., police announced Ahsir had been found safe and the woman accused of kidnapping him was in custody. Police say the suspect and baby were both found inside a home on the 900 block of Upper Gulph Road in Tredyffrin Township.
While police have not yet identified the woman they say they don't believe she has any connections to the baby's family. They also say she has ties to the King of Prussia area.
