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player ready...Raven Gaines was at her Tarrytown home Monday night when the father of her 12-day-old baby girl called to say he wanted to take the baby to Chicago.
Gaines, 21, told him no, but he showed up at her door early Tuesday, gun in hand, court records state.
Laquawn Gill, 21, pointed a handgun at Gaines then took the newborn as Gaines tried to block his exit by placing herself in front of the door, police said. He pointed the gun at her and left with the baby, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Gaines called police at 1:26 a.m. and by 1:49 a.m., officers returned the newborn to her mother.
But the 23 minutes in between involved a frantic search for a silver Jeep Liberty, a brief foot chase to apprehend Gill, then a separate search for the newborn, who Gill already had removed from the Jeep, police said.
Gill has been charged with kidnapping, criminal confinement, intimidation and pointing a firearm. He is being held at the Lake County Jail.
Gill, who police said is not the newborn’s legally recognized father, drove to Gaines’ home about 1:20 a.m.
One of three cousins who was at the mother’s home “let him in out of fear” after seeing the gun in his hand, according to court documents.
When Gill walked in, “he displayed a black semiautomatic handgun, and he threatened to shoot up the house and kill her,” the police report states.
Gaines told Detective Robin Bolde that Gill walked into the bedroom where the baby was in a car seat and “started to pack her things as he held this weapon,” according to court documents.
He then left with the newborn.
Within minutes, police had located the Jeep, but Gill jumped out and ran, prompting a brief foot pursuit in the Concord Commons apartment complex, west of Tarrytown.
Officers Nicholas Ferrell, Andrew Germonprez and Arthur Lemme learned the newborn was at Gill’s girlfriend’s home about a mile from the arrest.
When they arrived at the woman’s Brunswick home, they found the baby on a bed, unharmed. Gill’s girlfriend told Bolde that Gill had asked her to go get the baby and she had refused, according to court documents.