The father who kidnapped the 11-month-old in Fort Worth on Thursday found out of state with the toddler, arrested and charged
Fort Worth, Texas – The 26-year-old Lancelot Dawkins was arrested on Friday and is facing several charges after he kidnapped his 11-month-old daughter and attacked the child’s mother on Thursday.
According to the incident report, the baby was kidnapped from a home in North Fort Worth near Roanoke after the father attacked the child’s mother and forcefully took the child.
The mother called 911 right after the incident and the Fort Worth police immediately issued an Amber Alert. The manhunt started right away and lasted for 15 hours when the father was found in New Mexico together with the baby who was found unharmed.
The police confirmed that the father, who was fresh out jail, went to the apartment located on the 13500 block of Little River Road and took the 11-month-old Harmony Rodriguez.
He was arrested on Friday for charges of attacking the child’s mother. In addition, he is facing multiple charges related to the abduction.
“When he walked up to the residence, he placed his hand over the peep hole and said he was an officer. He claimed he was with law enforcement,” said Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes. “When Harmony’s mother opened the door, he forced his way in and assaulted her, strangling her to the point of unconsciousness.”
The suspect has long history of domestic violence in five different states. In December, he was arrested for attacking the same woman following an argument in the woman’s apartment. The affidavit says Dawkins “continued to make threats of killing her, grabbing scissors and a knife putting it on the counter.”
Authorities say he bonded out of the Tarrant County jail in January, fled Texas and was booked into jail again on Wednesday.
He was released from jail on Thursday and he directly headed to the woman’s apartment attacking her again and kidnapping the baby.
He was located in Eaglewood, New Mexico, after the local police learned that he was at an address there. The Fort Worth PD contacted the Eaglewood local police department who responded at the scene given by the FW police, found his vehicle parked in front of an apartment and arrested him immediately. The girl was taken to safety.
At this time, police are not releasing details on how they were able to track Dawkins down in New Mexico. He will be extradited back to Tarrant County to face additional charges.
