ELKHART COUNTY - A 6-month-old child abducted by a noncustodial parent was safely returned after an observant Indiana State Trooper saw the vehicle it was believed to have been taken in.
On Saturday, May 10, Master Trooper Brian Hoffman heard a dispatch that the Plymouth Police Department was investigating a child abduction by a non-custodial parent. A description of the vehicle was given and a possible route of travel. At approximately 3:04 a.m. Hoffman thought he saw the vehicle, a maroon 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer, driving eastbound on U.S. 20 near CR 17. After catching up to Chevrolet and verifying that it was the vehicle being looked for, Hoffman called for additional units as he followed it eastbound, according to a news release from the ISP.
Hoffman made a traffic stop on the Chevrolet as it pulled into a business at the intersection of U.S. 20 and Ind. 15. As Hoffman approached the Chevrolet, the front- and rear-passenger windows were lowered, and he saw a man sitting in the rear-passenger side seat holding a baby. This man identified himself as Shaquile Booker, 30, the man suspected of taking the child. Hoffman and officers with the Bristol Police Department safely took Booker into custody. The child was found to be unharmed, the release states.
Officers with the Plymouth Police Department were contacted and they came to the scene to take custody of Booker and returned the child to its custodial parent. Booker was taken to the Marshall County Jail where he faces several charges related to this case as well as an active warrant out of Allen County.