WATCH THE VIDEO: Man Snatched Car, Kid, After Car Crash In Broward… Mom Holds On To Car, But Falls To Street.
BY: 24/7 CRIME DESK | BocaNewsNow.com
BROWARD COUNTY, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A man wanted in Palm Beach County on a drug charge is facing kidnapping and carjacking charges in Broward County after he snatched a car with a kid in the back seat. Willio Petioma is now in the Broward Jail. He was caught on camera placing the kidnapped child on the side of the road after the alleged carjacking — a carjacking that led a mother to hold on to the car, in an effort to save her child, before she fell off.
This is the update from the Broward Sheriff’s Office sent to BocaNewsNow.com:
Broward Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit detectives arrested the suspect who carjacked a woman and drove off with her child in the back seat. An anonymous tip led to the identification of the suspect, 35-year-old Willio Petioma. Investigators say the mother grabbed onto the front passenger door of her vehicle and yelled out to the subject that her child was inside of the car. The mother was dragged before falling to the ground as the subject drove away.
Shortly after 8:28 a.m., on Wednesday, June 26, Broward County Regional Communications received a call reporting a stolen vehicle at 850 W. Commercial Blvd. in Oakland Park. The preliminary investigation revealed the victims, a mother and her three-year-old daughter, were involved in a car accident with another vehicle. When the mother exited her car to exchange information with the other driver, an unknown adult male entered the driver side of her vehicle and began to drive away with her child inside.
Investigators obtained surveillance video of the subject that captures several moments. First, the subject is seen exiting the vehicle with the child in the car seat and leaving her in a sidewalk. Another moment captures the subject abandoning the vehicle. The final video captures the subject using the victim’s credit card at a Family Dollar store.
On Sunday, June 30, Petioma was taken into custody and booked into the BSO Main Jail. He faces charges that include kidnapping, carjacking, interfering with custody of a minor and illegal use of a credit card. He was also arrested on a Palm Beach County warrant for possession of cocaine and resisting an officer.
