Impersonator Posing as DCF Agent Attempts Kidnapping of 9-Year-Old, Uses 911 Call to Aid Escape, Police Report

In a startling incident in Florida, a 56-year-old woman has been accused of impersonating a government official to kidnap a young boy. The woman, Nicole Terry Thomas, allegedly pretended to be a Department of Children and Families (DCF) employee to take a 9-year-old boy from his babysitter. In a bizarre twist, she even called the sheriff’s office, seeking assistance for the abduction, but was swiftly arrested by the deputies instead.

Thomas was apprehended last Friday and now faces multiple charges, including four counts of attempted first-degree kidnapping. Additional charges against her include committing a criminal act under the guise of law, trespassing after a warning, misuse of the 911 system, and unarmed burglary of an occupied dwelling, as indicated in court documents.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office detailed the unfolding of the incident in a news release. Deputies were dispatched at approximately 3:22 p.m. to a home on the 2800 block of Eight Iron Drive following a call for assistance. The caller, who identified herself as Thomas, claimed to need help removing children from the property.

Upon arrival, deputies first spoke with the babysitter. She recounted that she was looking after the 9-year-old boy and three other children when Thomas and another woman began persistently knocking on the door and window. Thomas purportedly identified herself as a DCF case manager, asserting her intention to take the boy to his mother.

Deputies first spoke with the babysitter, who explained that she was watching the 9-year-old and three other children when Thomas and another woman began knocking “on the front door and front window.” Thomas allegedly told the babysitter that “she was a DCF case manager and was at the residence to pick up [the 9-year-old] and take him to his mother.”

When the sitter refused to give her the child, Thomas allegedly threatened to remove all the children from the home.

“Ms. Thomas proceeded to the end of the drive way and made a phone call in which she said she would be working late due [to] finding homes for all of the children she was going to be removing from the residence at [redacted],” a deputy wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “At no point did Ms. Thomas present a DCF business card or proof or employment when requested. [The babysitter] also instructed Ms. Thomas several time[s] to leave the property, however she refused to do so and called 911.”

Authorities said the child’s mother had mental disabilities and did not have custody of her child at the time of the incident. She told investigators she had met Thomas through her church. Thomas allegedly told her she worked for DCF and “would be able to help get the mother’s life back on track, to include getting custody of her son.”

When confronted by deputies, Thomas allegedly admitted to posing as a DCF agent.

“In what was probably the only smart thing she said or did that afternoon, Nicole Thomas admitted to detectives that she should have known better,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. “She impersonated a government employee, threatened to take four children, and even called 911 to try to get a deputy to help her pull it all off. I’d say she clearly didn’t think that one through.”

Thomas is currently being held without bond and is scheduled to appear for a pretrial hearing on Feb. 19.