DA drops felony charges in attempted kidnapping case

August 16, 2018

A woman who allegedly attempted to kidnap a 3-year-old boy at the San Luis Obispo Target store is no longer charged with a pair of felonies and is now facing a single misdemeanor count of battery. [Cal Coast Times]

In April, San Luis Obispo police said Los Osos woman Rosemary Osorio-Loaiza, 50, attempted to kidnap a 3-year-old boy by luring the child away with her. When the child’s parent confronted her, Osorio-Loaiza released the boy’s hand and left the store without further incident, police said.

After police circulated a surveillance image of the woman, Osorio-Loaiza turned herself in at the county sheriff’s substation in Los Osos. She then met with San Luis Obispo detectives and was arrested at the SLO police department.

Prosecutors charged Osorio-Loaiza, a Colombian citizen who is married to an American, with felony counts of attempted kidnapping and false imprisonment. On Wednesday, though, the district attorney’s office dropped the felony charges and replaced them with the battery count.

Authorities have indicated there is surveillance footage of the incident that occurred in Target, but they have not released the video, other than a brief recording of Osorio-Loaiza walking out of the store.

Osorio-Loaiza is not currently in custody, according to the county sheriff’s office website.