New Jersey kidnapping suspect arrested in Nassau, police say

A woman wanted in connection with the kidnapping of an 11-month-old boy in New Jersey was arrested Wednesday afternoon at a home in Lakeview, Nassau County police said.

Police said that Christina Fitzpatrick, 20, was arrested at a home on Utah Place at 1:20 p.m. by the U.S. Marshals Service, New Jersey State Police and the Essex County, New Jersey, prosecutor’s office, with assistance from the Nassau police Fugitive Squad, Fifth Squad and Special Victims Squad.

Police said the child was found unharmed, but was taken by Nassau police ambulance to a hospital for evaluation. After that evaluation, police said, the boy was reunited with his parents.

Police said Fitzpatrick has been charged as a fugitive from justice and is scheduled for arraignment Thursday in First District Court in Hempstead.

Fitzpatrick is from Chicago and was watching the infant for a friend in East Orange, New Jersey, when she disappeared with the child, according to The Associated Press. The discovery was made, AP said, when the child’s mother returned home at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Nassau police had no additional details about the case. It also was not known if Fitzpatrick was represented by an attorney.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”