Man is Arrested in Beating of Baby and Kidnapping of Boy, 5
A man beat his girlfriend’s infant son, leaving the child in critical condition, then kidnapped her 5-year-old son Thursday in Gardena, police said.
The kidnapped boy was found at 39th Street and Grand Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles about three hours later. Someone in a grocery store noticed that he had been alone and called police.
Michael Jerome Marks kidnapped the boy at 1:30 p.m. from the Patio Motel in the 13800 block of South Normandie Avenue after choking his mother until she fainted and beating her 7-month-old son, police said.
Officers found the woman hysterical about her infant, who was not breathing, Sgt. Mark Rickerl said. They revived him with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
About 45 minutes later, Marks’ car was found abandoned after he collided with a pickup truck at Manchester Avenue and South Hoover Street in South-Central Los Angeles. The truck driver wasn’t seriously hurt.
After officers searched for Marks with bloodhounds, he walked into the LAPD’s 77th Street Division station about 5 p.m. Officers said he was incoherent and may have been under the influence of drugs.
The infant suffered severe blunt trauma and was in critical condition Thursday night at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, police said.
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Times staff writer Hanah Cho contributed to this report.
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