A Pierce County woman accused of trying to kidnap a toddler from Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup on Monday has been charged.
Prosecutors charged the 45-year-old woman with second-degree attempted kidnapping and second-degree assault on Tuesday, according to court records.
The woman appeared for an arraignment at the Pierce County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon. Court Commissioner Philip Thornton issued an order for a competency evaluation, records show. The woman is being held at the Pierce County Jail on no bail, pending the evaluation hearing scheduled for Dec. 24.
Charging information
Officers were dispatched at 1:16 p.m. to the hospital after a Good Samaritan nurse reported that a woman was kidnapping a child from the emergency room. Several witnesses also reported to 911 that a fight was happening due to the attempted kidnapping. The child’s mother was able to get the toddler back, according to charging documents.
The mother was shaking and crying when police spoke to her. She was with her friend and 3-year-old daughter. The mother said she was in the waiting room when the alleged kidnapper sat across from her. The woman made faces at the child and moments later stood up to pick her up. The woman then grabbed her purse and began to walk towards the exit, documents show.
The mother and her friend ran over to grab the child from the woman. The woman was tightly gripping the child in her arms, documents show. After screaming for help, witnesses nearby helped pry the child out of the woman’s arms. Hospital security then arrived to detain the woman.
The child had redness on her stomach and back. She was also in pain from the woman squeezing too hard, court records show. The woman was arrested after police arrived.
The woman’s husband arrived at the hospital and spoke to police. When an officer said his wife was in custody for grabbing a child, the husband did not seem surprised, documents show.
The husband said his wife had been dealing with psychosis and paranoia. Police noted it was unclear if the woman was diagnosed with any mental illnesses. The husband told police his wife was admitted last year to Western State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Lakewood, after going to jail.
Records show the woman was charged in December 2023 for breaking through car windows in Pierce County with an axe. She had also broken the windows on a couple homes in a neighborhood. The woman pleaded guilty in April 2024 to second-degree malicious mischief and sentenced to 60 days to Western State Hospital.
Her husband told police that over the previous week, his wife had been behaving strangely again, often laughing to herself. She stopped taking her methadone and likely consumed hallucinogenic mushrooms, documents show.
Throughout the woman’s interaction with officers following the arrest, she would often smile at them while staying silent. One officer concluded in documents the woman allegedly seemed to enjoy watching him struggle with trying to have a conversation, “as if it pleased her to waste police time and resources.”
During questioning, an officer asked the woman if she really tried to kidnap a child and she allegedly responded, “yup.” When asked why, the woman allegedly said she thought it was her child, documents show.