KENNER, La. (AP/WSVN) — Police in Louisiana say a stranger with a machete tried to snatch two children from their mothers inside a Walmart.
Kenner police described the case in a Facebook post. They say 33-year-old Billy Yoe Budier-Herrera walked up to a woman and her 2-year-old son who were shopping in the store and told the woman if she did not do what he said, she and her son would die.
The woman tried to walk away, but Budier-Herrera stopped her and reportedly grabbed a machete on his waist, causing her to fear for her and her child’s safety.
Police said Budier-Herrera then tried to pull the child out of the cart, but the boy’s mother grabbed her son and the two began pulling the child. The mother eventually prevailed, but the man then ran through the store, swinging the machete at employees who tried to intervene.
Police say he then spotted another mother with a baby strapped into the child seat of a grocery cart, and was trying to remove the infant when store employees tackled him.
When he was taken into custody, police found the machete, a container of pepper spray and a makeshift shiv constructed from a plastic handle with razor blades attached by duct tape.
Budier-Herrera is charged with two counts of kidnapping of a child and other offenses. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer.
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