Criminals often are not the sharpest tools in the shed.
They think they can talk their way out of their crimes.
And a Florida woman had one insane excuse for the police after she stole a three-year-old child.
Florida woman grabs a child out of a yard and runs off
Criminals are looking to steal anything that is not nailed down these days.
Pamela Monsalve, 39-years-old, reached over a fence in Hallandale Beach, Florida, and grabbed a three-year-old boy who was playing in his backyard.
She was spotted by neighbors walking down the street with the child in tow.
They confronted her about what she was doing and began taking pictures and recording video of her kidnapping the three-year-old.
Neighbors called the child’s mother and the police.
Monsalve realized that the gig was up, and she let the kid go.
The police showed up to arrest her and she came up with an insane excuse why she should get a free pass.
She claimed that because she gave the child back, she should not be arrested.
“I gave it back! I gave it back!” Monsalve protested.
Police bodycam confirms that Florida woman is not a smooth talker
Monsalve thought she was going to be slick and talk her way out of the crime with the police.
NEW: Florida woman who allegedly abducted a 3-year-old from his yard claimed she shouldn’t be arrested because she “gave it back”
Pamela Monsalve, 39, was arrested and charged with kidnapping after allegedly grabbing a toddler from his yard
Monsalve yelled, “I gave it back! I… pic.twitter.com/uKWeFY2Qmo
— Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) December 4, 2024
“He was outside, he was naked, he was, like, with his shirt, and his…everything was naked. And I asked for the people around to call police, and nobody would call police, and I told the little boy ‘Where’s your mom?’ and he said ‘no,’” Monsalve claimed.
She said that she found the child at a playground which the police knew was a lie.
A police officer asked where this playground was at.
“Outside the, the…outside the, um…hotel,” Monsalve stuttered. “I got the little boy, and everyone was like, don’t get the little boy, and I’m like, I gave it back to the mom. I gave it back!”
Police arrested her for confining a child under the age of 13 without the consent of a parent.
Hallandale Beach Police Captain Megan Jones praised the neighbors for their quick thinking.
“Make sure you pay attention to your kids, your surroundings, make sure you know your neighbors and your neighbors know you,” Jones said. “This is an example of ‘know thy neighbor’ and those neighbors were able to help prevent this child from being permanently taken.”
The police said that Monsalve did not know the child’s family.
“I can’t imagine what act can cause more extreme fear, distress in a parent than having somebody, not knowing who, go into their property, their fenced-in property and removing their 3-year-old child,” a prosecutor said about the case.
Monsalve is being held with bond in the Broward County Jail.
She continued to shoot herself in the foot during a hearing for the case by trying to speak.
“Ma’am, don’t say anything. Ma’am don’t say anything,” Monsalve’s lawyer said in court.
“Anything you say can be used against you in a future date and everything is being recorded,” the judge told her.
The neighbor saved the three-year-old from being a victim of every parent’s worst nightmare.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
