A woman was extradited to Santa Barbara a week after she allegedly escaped to Montana on a private jet following an unsuccessful but brutal attempt to kidnap her son during a supervised visit in Goleta, authorities announced Monday.
Dr. Theresa Lynn Colosi, 55, was booked at the Santa Barbara County jail last Thursday with no bail on suspicion of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to officials, Colosi was walking with her 12-year-old son outside a bowling alley the morning of Dec. 8 when she swung a metal object at the court-ordered supervisor, hitting her several times in the head.
The victim told the boy to call for help at the bowling alley, the Sheriff’s Office said. Colosi allegedly started to follow her son before running to her car and leaving. That’s when witnesses called 911.
The supervisor, a contractor assigned to oversee the parental visit, suffered severe injuries to her head and face, the Sheriff’s Office said. Officials did not release her name.
Investigators later learned that Colosi had given away her belongings, withdrawn $900,000 from her bank account, and used fake names for herself, her child and her dog to charter a private jet at Lompoc Airport, officials said.
The aircraft took off for Glacier International Airport in Montana about 1 1/2 hours after the alleged attack, according to authorities.
Santa Barbara County sheriff’s deputies contacted officials in Whitefish, Montana and obtained a warrant for Colosi’s arrest.
Three days after the incident, Whitefish detectives assigned to Colosi’s suspected hideout saw her leaving the location and getting into a taxi.
The officers stopped the cab and detained the woman, the Sheriff’s Office said. She was held at Flathead County in Montana before her extradition on Thursday.
Whitefish police described Colosi as an orthopedic surgeon living in San Jose. Her physician and surgeon license remained active as of Monday, shows the online database for the Medical Board of California.
The Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose still listed Colosi as a surgeon on Dec. 11. That’s no longer the case on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Lompoc Valley Medical Center’s website describes Colosi as a tenant in an office owned by the hospital. “She has access to use the office on a timeshare basis, but has never used the space,” reads a page on the site.
Officials did not provide any details about who has custody of her son.
