MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — A pinging cell phone led troopers to find a suspected kidnapper and 2-year-old girl heading toward the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper J.S. Angelicchi was sent around 9:30 p.m. Sunday to a "be on the lookout" call at the bridge. It wasn't long before the wanted vehicle, an older model GMC Envoy, was spotted heading south.
Angelicchi and backup troopers were told the girl was inside and, at a minimum, the driver was armed with a knife.
Troopers eventually pulled the SUV over on Interstate 75 and arrested the suspect, 36-year-old Jean Emmanuel Jean-Gilles, according to an arrest report. The 2-year-old was found in the backseat and wasn't wearing a seat belt, law enforcement said.
Jean-Gilles reportedly told troopers he had permission to take the child and didn't know her mother had called the police. Troopers say he, too, claimed to have a text message about wanting to see the girl, but they did not see a return text giving Jean-Gilles permission.
Authorities said they later learned Jean-Gilles visited the mother's Pasco County home to take the child to his Miami-area home and when he was told no, he allegedly beat the mother.
Jean-Gilles faces charges, including kidnapping with aggravated circumstances and interference with custody. He was booked into the Manatee County Jail.
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