Man charged with kidnapping after taking SUV that prompted Amber Alert: prosecutors
A man who on Sunday took a running SUV containing two young children from a Lee’s Summit driveway, prompting an Amber Alert, has been charged with child kidnapping, prosecutors said.
Mitchell Green, 41, was also charged with tampering with a motor vehicle after he took the Ford Edge about 3 p.m. in the area of SW 3rd Street and SW Winterpark Boulevard, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the vehicle was taken while it was warming up. Inside the SUV were two girls under the age of 5, police said. It prompted an Amber Alert that was canceled within 30 minutes because the children were found uninjured.
The children’s mother said she had run inside to grab baby wipes. She took her keys with her and the SUV was a “push to start,” so it kept running, police said. Then she saw a masked man driving away in her SUV, so she ran to try and stop him, according to police.
A neighbor provided detectives with a still image of the suspect from their doorbell video.
Green, who prosecutors listed as homeless, was taken into custody by Independence police. Officers stopped him near Interstate 70 and Little Blue Parkway, court records show. Police said Green later admitted he took the SUV.
He did not yet have an attorney listed in court records who could be reached for comment.
