A 3-month-old girl was found safe in Bakersfield and her father was arrested early Saturday morning after allegedly abducting her the previous day in Palmdale, authorities said.
Ellsworth Jerome Young, 28, was taken into custody about 2:30 a.m., said Lt. Belinda Johnson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Palmdale station.
About 11:41 a.m. Friday, Young’s girlfriend, the baby’s mother, ran from her car into a check-cashing business in the 800 block of East Palmdale Boulevard after being punched in the face by Young, according to an earlier news release from the Sheriff’s Department.
The infant was in the car at the time of the attack, which left the mother with a black eye, the release said.
Young drove away from the location with child and was reported to be in Bakersfield shortly before 6 p.m. Friday, according to authorities.
The suspect’s girlfriend told authorities that he was armed with a semi-automatic pistol and he had “repeatedly forced her to commit sex acts as recently as” Thursday, the statement said.
Johnson, the sheriff’s lieutenant, said she did not know whether Young was armed when he was arrested Saturday.
Sheriff’s officials were en route to Bakersfield, where the suspect would be transferred to their custody, Johnson said.
