A child taken during an incident early Saturday morning on Seymour’s east side has been located.
Two Seymour men, 23-year-old Daniel Gaspar Lopez-Mendoza and 20-year-old Josue Francisco Canay-Rivera have been charged in connection with the incident that began with a report of a female being battered at an apartment in the 600 block of East Oak Street, according to a news release from Seymour Police Department Lt. C.J. Foster.
Lopez-Mendoza, who is the father of the child, faces charges of kidnapping, a Level 5 felony, and domestic battery, strangulation and intimidation, all Level 6 felonies. He also faces a Class A misdemeanor charge of interfering with reporting a crime.
Canay-Rivera faces a Level 6 felony charge of child neglect.
The charges stem from an investigation that began when police were called to the apartment at 4:43 a.m.
A woman there told police her boyfriend had battered and strangled her and then took her phone and the child they had together and left in a black 2012 GMC Terrain, Foster said.
Police also were told the boyfriend, later identified as Lopez-Mendoza, had threatened to harm the child.
The woman was taken to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour by personnel with Jackson County Emergency Medical Services for treatment of her injures.
Foster said officers and investigators then started the process of searching for the missing child. They also had started working on an Amber Alert with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, but before that process was complete, patrol officers located and stopped the GMC Terrain that Lopez-Mendoza had been in at the time of the incident.
Lopez-Mendoza was arrested at that time, and the vehicle was searched for the child, who was not found, Foster said.
Police then learned the child was back at the apartment where the incident had started, so they returned there and found the child. The child, who appeared to be unharmed, was taken by ambulance to Schneck as a precautionary measure, Foster said.
He said as interviews were conducted, investigators were told Lopez-Mendoza had given the child to Canay-Rivera, who took the child back to the apartment and then left to go work out.
Foster said Canay-Rivera told police Lopez-Mendoza told him not to let police in if they came to the apartment.
Investigators continue to conduct follow-up interviews, and more charges are expected.