Chaos erupted at Miami International Airport on Tuesday when a woman allegedly grabbed a crying boy from his mother and refused to hand him back.
Deputies with the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office have said that a mother, identified by the Miami Herald as Nadine Joseph, was standing in line with her child at Security Checkpoint 5 with her crying four-year-old son at around 4am.
Alvina Omisri Agba, 23, from Luton, England, then allegedly offered to take the child to calm him down, to which Joseph agreed.
But as soon as she handed over the child, Agba walked away, according to an arrest report obtained by the Herald.
The worried mother then raced to follow Agba, and eventually found her sitting on the floor with her son.
At that point, the police report says Joseph demanded Agba give her back her son – to which the 23 year old allegedly replied, ‘No, this is my child.’
The suspect then wrapped her arms and legs around the child, so that the young boy couldn’t escape, and when Joseph ten tried to grab her child, Agba allegedly pushed her away.
Yet Joseph was still able to grab her son’s arms as police say Agba held onto his legs, and the two were trying to wrestle over the child.
Alvina Omisri Agba, 23, from Luton, England, was arrested on Tuesday after she allegedly took a young boy from his mother and refused to give him back
The incident happened at Miami International Airport’s Security Checkpoint 5 at around 4am
The commotion caused the young boy to scream out, which caught the attention of Natylet Montano, whom Local 10 News reports was working at the check-in counter for Global Crossing Airlines.
Montano then sprang into action and grabbed the child so that he would not be hurt, and held the young boy behind the counter.
‘Once [my colleague] took the boy to the counter, the lady went inside the counter and we called 911,’ GlobalX Air Supervisor Dayanis Ojeda recounted to Local 10 News.
Deputies also explained that Agba crawled underneath the counter and demanded that Montano hand over the child, but three men intervened and blocked her path.
The suspect then allegedly ran away, but deputies were able to catch up with her and take her into custody.
When they then read her her rights, Agba allegedly told officers she was simply taking the child to a wall painted with a rainbow, hoping that would calm him down.
She also allegedly claimed she did not remember what happened when the boy’s mother came to retrieve her son from her, but said she ‘only did it because God told her to do it.’
The young boy sustained deep scratches to his neck, but was ultimately well enough to make his flight with his mother. International travelers are pictured here at the international airport on Friday
Yet authorities say she was not under the influence or drugs or alcohol at the time, according to Fox News.
Agba is now charged with interfering with custody and battery, and is being held at the Turner Guilford Correctional Center on a $3,500 bond.
Meanwhile, the young boy sustained deep scratches to his neck, but was ultimately well enough to make his flight with his mother.
