Who is Jessica Vega? Chilling child kidnapper tells mom 'just because she's yours doesn't mean I can't take her'
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Parents now have a new fear about going to the supermarket with their kids as there has been a spike in incidents of shoppers kidnapping children. A Texas woman attempted to kidnap a four-year-old girl inside a Walmart in San Antonio on Monday, Sept 5. On being confronted, she reportedly told the mother, "Just because she's yours, doesn't mean I can't take her."
The 28-year-old mother was out shopping with her daughters in Walmart on Potranco Road in San Antonio when she faced her worst nightmare — her daughter, who was sitting in the shopping cart, was carted off by a stranger. The distressed mother screamed in horror when she noticed Jessica Vega had walked off with her child and confronted Vega, who wouldn't let go. Witnesses intervened and a store employee rushed to the mother's aid. Vega was later arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping.
READ MORE
Picky thieves RETURN stolen watch to tourist after realizing it was a knockoff
(Bexar County)
Jessica Vega, 35, walked up to the shopping cart, pushed the older daughter's hands off the handle and started walking away as the younger daughter still sat in the child seat, officials said. As the distraught mother saw her daughter being taken by a complete stranger, she confronted Vega, who would not give her daughter back. Several witnesses intervened along with a store employee, according to a statement the San Antonio Police Department issued to DailyMail.com.
The little girl was unharmed and the mother left the store with her baby and her older daughter in tow. Vega fled on foot as soon as police arrived but an unknown caller informed the cops of Vega's location and she was later apprehended. There was enough evidence to have a warrant placed on Vega for attempted kidnapping. Vega is being held at the Brexar County jail.
Last month, in a similar incident, a Florida man was arrested after he allegedly attempted to purchase an eight-year-old girl at a Winn-Dixie store from her mother. Hellmuth Kolb approached Lauren Benning and began asking about her eight-year-old daughter. Kolb, who happens to be a registered sex offender, complimented the mother about her child. Then, after the mother had left the store, he approached Benning in the parking lot. Benning claims the man "chased me down in the parking lot and said, 'Hey, I want to make a deal with you. I'd like to buy her for $100,000.'" Kolb had been on probation when he approached a mother for charges related to a similar attempt at purchasing a child for $200,000 in 2018. He was arrested on August 25 for violating the terms of his probation and is currently being held without bond. Benning and the child were unharmed in the accident but the mother was shocked after the bizarre encounter.
There is also the August 31 case where a mother and her one-year-old child were abducted at gunpoint by two men at Target in Memphis, Tennessee while the woman was putting groceries into her car.
The police revealed, "The males forced the victim and the child into the suspect's vehicle. The suspects drove to the Regions Bank at 7790 Highway 64 and forced the victim to withdraw $800 from the ATM. The child was snatched from her mother's hands in the car as one of the suspects held the child on their trip to the ATM. The woman and her child were then driven back to the Target parking lot and released, but the suspects kept her wallet.