A 24-year-old woman suspected of abducting her 5-year-old daughter from south suburban University Park on Sunday night was in police custody Monday morning awaiting charges, officials said.
University Park police Chief Ed Bradley said the woman forced her way into the home of her mother, who has full legal custody of the child.
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The incident occurred shortly after 11 p.m. on Circle Drive, a few blocks southwest of Western Avenue and University Parkway. Police recovered the child, safe, less than six hours later in the 11700 block of South Harvard Avenue in the city’s West Pullman neighborhood.
Bradley said the woman “just made some bad decisions” Sunday night. Other children were also present in the home at the time, he said.
He described the incident as a “domestic-type” matter, acknowledging that University Park police have responded to prior calls at the residence.
“We’re just happy police were able to find the child and bring her back safely and the matter ended in a positive way,” he said, calling child abductions in University Park “absolutely” rare.
Bradley said a 35-year-old man who allegedly accompanied the woman is unrelated to the child and had “minimal involvement” in the incident.