Boy kidnapped from UD found in Philly

A 2-year-old boy who was kidnapped from an Upper Dublin apartment complex around 10 p.m. Tuesday night after his father was assaulted was found unharmed around 4 a.m. Wednesday in Philadelphia, but the reason for the kidnapping and who was involved is still unknown.

“This was not a random crime of opportunity,” Upper Dublin police Deputy Chief Lee Benson said Wednesday morning. “We think he [the father] was targeted, though there is no good, solid idea of why.”

Upper Dublin police received a call from Montgomery County 911 of a kidnapping and assault at the Woods Apartments on Susquehanna Road in the Ambler section of the township, police said.

A male resident of the apartment complex had arrived home with his son in a rented Chrysler 300 and started walking with the boy across the parking lot when he heard footsteps and turned to see three masked men rushing him, Benson said.

“He picked up the child and they tackled him and they fought on the ground for the child,” Benson said.

The assailants, at least one of whom had a gun, punched and kicked the father of the boy, who lost the struggle over the child, and they got the car keys off him and took off in the Chrysler with the boy, he said.

An Amber Alert was issued immediately and an extensive investigation was launched involving Upper Dublin and Philadelphia police and the FBI, police said. The alert, is- sued by the state police, sought three black males in the Chrysler 300 and 2-year-old Tymire Dior Smith.

Around 4:10 a.m., Philadelphia police found the child alone on the street at 66th and Malvern in the Overbrook section of the city and he was taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for a medical evaluation, police said.

Benson said the boy was not injured, but was “a little banged up from being fought over.” The boy’s

mother lives in Philadelphia, Benson said, but he did not know where.

A 3hLODGHOShLD RIfiFHU was scouring the area due to a recent kidnapping in the same general area, Benson said.

A 24-year-old woman was abducted from a home in the 900 block of North 66th Street by three masked men before 6 a.m. Aug. 29 and taken to an abandoned home, where she was able to get away, according to media reports. Those kidnappers had also stolen a vehicle from the family at the scene.

The rental car taken in Tuesday night’s kidnapping, which had not yet been recovered, was described as a dark-colored Chrysler 300, with PA liFHnsH HY- 6836.

Benson said the boy and his father were returning home from somewhere in Philadelphia Tuesday night when they were ambushed at the apartment FRPSOHx. 7hH IDWhHU wDs cooperative and spent the night speaking with the police, but as yet a reason for the kidnapping was unknown, Benson said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Upper Dublin police at 215-6462100.