KNWA in Fayetteville reports that a baby taken from an apartment this morning by a man described by a witness as “rambling incoherently” has been recovered this afternoon and is safe.
Police say Kelly T. Jendeski, 31, came to the apartment of his neighbor in the 1100 block of West End Street this morning around 4:30 a.m., apparently incoherent. The neighbor, possibly believing him to be suicidal, called an ambulance, which transported him to Washington Regional Medical Center.
He was released a few hours later, returned home, then reportedly went back to the woman’s apartment. After being allowed in to lie down, the woman told police, Jendeski asked the woman for cigarettes. After going in the pocket of her coat where she also kept her car keys, police say he took her one-year old son, then fled the scene in the woman’s Jeep.
Jendeski was arrested this afternoon in Fayetteville, driving the woman’s car. The child was found in the passenger’s seat, and appears to be unharmed. Jendeski has been booked into the Washington Co. Jail, on charges of kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a minor, and theft.
UPDATE: Jendeski was ultimately charged with False Imprisonment and given probation.