Father arrested in infant’s abduction
Baby unharmed; man accused of assaulting 3 others in incident
The father of a one-month-old child who was the subject of an Amber Alert Wednesday morning is in custody after Yuma police located him several hours after he allegedly abducted the infant from its Yuma home.
According to Sgt. Lori Franklin, a spokesperson for the Yuma Police Department, 23-year-old Alfredo Lopez was located at about 9:17 a.m. at a residence in the 2700 block of Madison Avenue and arrested.
Franklin said the baby boy, Azriel Lopez, was found safe and unharmed at the same location and the Amber Alert was canceled.
The incident began shortly after 3 a.m., according to Franklin, when officers responded to the 4100 block of West 20th Place for a report of an aggravated assault.
“Upon arrival, officers learned that a one-month-old baby had been taken,” Franklin said.
During the abduction, Lopez allegedly assaulted three people: a 47-year-old woman, a 26-yearold man and a 23-year-old woman.
“One of the victims was struck by a car,” Franklin said. “The other two were physically assaulted.”
Two of the victims Lopez allegedly assaulted were transported to Yuma Regional Medical Center with undisclosed injuries.
Franklin said at the time of the alleged abduction Lopez did not have any parental rights.
Under state law, the mother of a baby born out of wedlock has sole custody of the child until the father establishes paternity and takes legal steps with the court to secure his parental rights.
Lopez was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault per deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, one count of custodial interference per domestic violence and one count of aggravated assault per domestic violence.