SPRING HILL, Fla. — A woman is facing multiple charges including kidnapping after being accused of driving off in a car with a child in the backseat, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
Breanne Lucey, 41, was charged with carjacking, kidnapping and fleeing to elude Saturday, May 27.
Deputies responded at around 10 a.m. to the area of Ashland Drive in Spring Hill in regards to a carjacking. However, while on the way, a 911 dispatcher told deputies a woman was screaming, "My baby, my baby."
The child's mother who spoke very broken English was able to get another person on the phone to translate and tell the 911 operator that a carjacking had just occurred and a 3-year-old child was still in the car, the sheriff's office said.
Deputies were able to reach the mother and get details from the interpreter. They said the woman was a food service delivery driver and arrived at the Ashland Drive address to deliver food. When the driver took food to the door, she saw a woman, later identified as Lucey, looking into the passenger side of the car at the child inside, authorities report.
That's when Lucey ran to the driver's side and hopped in the car while the delivery service woman ran to the door, but Lucey "yanked the door closed and drove away." The woman was seen hanging onto the door and was dragged a short distance, a witness told deputies.
While searching for the car, a deputy spotted the car nearby and attempted to make a traffic stop in the area of Cortez Boulevard and Commercial Way, however, Lucey fled, the sheriff's office said. Since there was a child inside, deputies did not pursue the woman but followed from a distance.
Deputies were able to make a stop in the area of Jenkins Creek and the child was still in the car.
Fire rescue responded to check the well-being of the child who was uninjured throughout the carjacking. The woman was then transported to the traffic stop area where she was reunited with her child and car.
"The victim, with the assistance of a Spanish-speaking deputy, identified Lucey as the person who stole her vehicle with the child inside," the sheriff's office said.
The sheriff's office also said Lucey declined to speak with them about the incident. She was booked into the Hernando County Jail with a bond set at $105,000.
Lucey has a long list of arrests in the Hernando County Jail database including 23 additional arrests since 2017. Her last arrest was on May 1.