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The incident occurred when 26-year-old Luis Meza Valdiva and his daughter, Yosseline Carolina Meza, and her mother left a Burger King restaurant in San Leandro at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The group was on their way to sign paperwork in Oakland when an argument began and Valdiva pulled a knife. He then started heading east toward the Central Valley.
The child's mother begged him to pull over so she could go to the bathroom. They stopped at a truckstop in Turlock where Valdiva agreed to let her go inside as long as she left the baby and her purse in the car. Some people at the truckstop noticed that the mother was crying. Valdiva noticed either the mother or a worker on the phone and left with the child.
Usually, a family abduction does not warrant a statewide AMBER Alert, but this one did.
"He made threats to his ex-girlfriend to kill her and harm the child as well... that she would never see the child again. So now that she (the mom) is safe, we are concerned about the child," said Sgt. J. D. Nelson with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.
Thursday afternoon, Alameda County sheriffs received a tip that Valdiva was at a home in unincorporated Alameda County. They arrived at the house and arrested Valdiva.
Paramedics checked the baby out and she was reunited with her mother.
Valdiva will be charged with kidnapping.
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