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A Missouri man faces charges of stalking, kidnapping, and child endangerment after allegedly following a woman from a Target store to her home and attempting to seize her while she held her toddler son.
Joshua Allen York, 30, reportedly told authorities that he engaged in a conversation with the woman at the Target and claimed she invited him to her home. However, York asserted that she changed her mind upon arrival, according to a report by the Springfield Daily Citizen.
York allegedly became upset by the situation, demanding money from the woman before leaving as she began to scream.
However, the probable cause statement presents a different account. It indicates that York was aimlessly wandering around the store when he spotted the woman and decided to follow her. After she completed her purchase and got into her car, he allegedly tailed her in his own vehicle. Upon arriving at her apartment complex, she began unloading groceries, leaving her sleeping 2-year-old son in the car.
During her final trip inside, she picked up her son and purse but sensed something was amiss, prompting her to glance behind. At that moment, she reportedly saw York hiding behind a neighboring vehicle. As he advanced toward her, she shouted, “What are you doing?”
At that point, York rushed to her, grabbed her around the waist, and began dragging her to the parking lot. Still holding her son, the woman fought back and screamed. A witness who was driving in the parking lot at the time heard the “bloody murder scream” and ran toward her, seeing York flee to his black SUV — after shoving the woman and her son to the ground — and drive away, Law&Crime reported.
Police used surveillance video from the apartment complex, a gas station, and traffic cameras to identify York as the suspect. He was arrested last week and is being held without bond.
York has a previous conviction for disturbing the peace and was initially charged with terroristic threats in that case, the Daily Citizen said.