A 34-year-old Belton man has been charged with child kidnapping after he got into an idling vehicle parked at a Raytown gas station and drove off with the vehicle with a child inside it, setting up an Amber Alert on Monday, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today.
Robert R. Mitchell Jr, dob: 9/7/1987, faces Child Kidnapping and Stealing a Motor Vehicle charges.*
According to court records, the father of the child told police he drove he and his son (child victim) to a gas station in Raytown where the incident occurred. Dad got out of the car and went inside the gas station, leaving his son in the vehicle while it was running. The Defendant is shown on video surveillance climbing into the victim’s vehicle from the passenger side, then driving away with the toddler still n the car. An AMBER Alert was issued and the stolen vehicle was spotted by Lee’s Summit police officers who pursued the vehicle. The pursuit reached high speeds until the vehicle was stopped after police deployed stop sticks. The defendant was taken into custody. The child was recovered unharmed.
Prosecutors requested a $75,000 bond.
*Charges are only accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until the defendant is either found guilty or has pleaded guilty.
