The first attempted kidnapping incident took place around 5 pm where Arnold, the kidnapper, picked up a 14 month old child from her stroller. After being stopped by the mother, the kidnapper allegedly ran away and hopped into her silver Sedan. The next incident occurred about half an hour later where Arnold attempted to take a three year old child at John Marshall Elementary School. The toddler was with his 8-year-old brother and mother. After a struggle, the mother was able to snatch her child from Arnold’s hands. Arnold once again ran away.The eight-year-old recalls, “ [Arnold] said, ‘you have a beautiful kid’. And then she was walking[…] past us. She was trying to get the baby out of our hands.”
The kidnapper was taken into custody at 2:30 am on August 12. “Arnold was charged with two felony counts of attempted kidnapping with the special allegation that the victims were under 14 years old,” says the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. She has pleaded not guilty but may face nine years in prison if convicted.
In fact, crime rates in Glendale are very low. According to Neighborhood Scout, a recognized source for U.S. neighborhood analytics, there are approximately 6,650 crimes per year in Glendale. Though this seems like a big number, Glendale is 48% safer than other cities in the U.S. Furthermore, there is a 1 in 976 chance that a resident in Glendale will become a victim, as opposed to the California rate of 1 in 252.
Residents were startled by not one but two attempted kidnaps within just half an hour of each other, because Glendale is a safe city where crime, especially kidnapping, is a rare occurrence.
