Mother charged with kidnapping when she tried to flee with child

Cooper

The mother of a child who last week was ordered removed from the woman's care was arrested and charged with kidnapping Thursday after she took the child from a caregiver and rammed a police car after a high-speed chase from Dyersburg through Crockett County that end when she rammed a Humboldt police car.

Charged with felony evading arrest, wreckless endangerment and aggravated assault is Melissa Cooper, 29, of Dyersburg.

According to police reports, Cooper's 10-year-old daughter was kidnapped by Cooper at 4:28 p.m. as the girl was waiting in line for ice cream with a caregiver at Gatlin's East convenience store. The child on April 26 had been placed in protective custody of a foster family after several complaints about her welfare.

Police said Cooper entered the store, grabbed the child and fled east in a beige sedan on East Court before turning onto Highway 412 at a high rate of speed. Also in the car was Cooper's partner, Anndria Webster, 18.

An alert immediately was sent to area law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for the vehicle.

Crockett County Chief Deputy Jeff Sills said deputies spotted the car minutes later on 412 near Bells. Cooper turned the car north onto Highway 79 and deputies tracked it as it gained speed toward Humboldt, where hundreds of people were gathered in the downtown area for the town's annual weeklong Strawberry Festival.

Alerting Humboldt police to the oncoming car, Bells police officer Kevin Liggon pulled in front of the Cooper sedan in an attempt to slow it down. As the pursuit moved onto the U.S. Highway 45 bypass, Humboldt police set up a roadblock at the entrance to the city.

Humboldt Police Chief Raymond Simmons said the department was ready for the pursuit as it entered the city.

"We were just trying to slow her down," said Simmons. "She was going at a horrible rate of speed with those kids in there."

Two blocks from the festival, Simmons said Cooper rammed the Bells police car "and then rammed our car. When she rammed it, she went into a spin and hit him broadside."

The Humboldt officer in the car was injured when the sedan hit the driver's side of his patrol car. Simmons said the officer was injured and taken to Humboldt General Hospital, where he was treated and released.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol Jackson office is working the reconstruction report of the accident, which is expected to be complete noon Monday. Simmons said he has no estimate yet of the cost to repair the police cruiser.

"We have no idea," he said. "There is just extensive damage to both doors."

Crockett County deputies took custody of Cooper and Webster and lodged them into the county jail at Alamo. The child was returned to the protective custody of her foster parents in Dyersburg.

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An April 26 court decision to remove the child from her biological mother's care was the result of several weeks of research into the child's life by the state Department of Children's Services Child Protective Services.

The state was prompted to look at the child's welfare by several events in recent weeks, details the protective custody order filed in Dyer County Chancery Court, including calls from several concerned neighbors.

On April 19 and April 20, CPS caseworkers received calls concerning the child's emotional stability and living arrangement. A home visit to the mobile home park south of Dyersburg on April 20 "found Melissa and her girlfriend, Anndria Webster aka 'Andy', present at the house. The trailer was strewn with clothes."

The report notes Cooper told investigators she, Webster and the child had the night before returned from a vacation in Wisconsin.

"Melissa explained that she and Andy had gone to Wisconsin to see her stepfather and to get married; both were wearing wedding bands. Melissa explained that she and Andy were already having marital problems. They bought a car tighter and 'maxed out' all of their credit cards while on vacation."

The mother told caseworkers she was on 16 different kinds of medication. Webster said she was on three types of medication, having hurt her knee while in Iraq.

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Clifford Steinburg is a neighbor in a nearby mobile home and often took care of the child when her mother was gone. On April 8, court documents show that he found a note on the door of his trailer from the girl. On it was written "Help me."

Steinburg went to the Cooper trailer and asked Webter if he could take the child for lunch at Burger King. He received permission and the pair left for lunch.

According to Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Holt, at this time someone called to tell deputies that the child had been kidnapped. Immediately, an alert to local law enforcement agencies was broadcast, with a make and model of Steinberg's pickup truck and a description of the girl.

A Dyersburg Police officer on Lake Road spotted the truck in the Burger King parking lot and entered the restaurant. The girl was playing with a toy; Steinburg was waiting for his order. Other officers arrived and secured the exits for the county deputies, as the case was called in from outside Dyersburg.

Sheriff's investigators arrived and asked Steinburg what he was doing. He told investigators who the child was and that he had often taken her to eat or play, each time with permission from either Melissa Cooper or Andy Webster.

Holt said it didn't take long to figure out the kidnapping alert was bogus. Deputies went to the trailer park to arrest the pair. Cooper was charged with filing a false report. Her case was heard Monday in Dyer County General Sessions Court, where it was continued to June 21.

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On April 21, Cooper and Webster took the child to a local sporting goods store to buy a four-wheeler. The owner explained that Webster was forcing Cooper to buy the ATV, but Webster had excellent credit but Cooper had recently filed bankruptcy.

"After asking questions and finding out they were not legally married, he refused to let them buy anything," the court document notes. The owner "explained he was concerned because [the child] was calling Webster 'daddy' and she seemed to be very controlling."

Later that day, court records show deputies were alerted by a 911 call from Cooper's aunt in Brighton that her niece was unconscious. When the arrived, Cooper was conscious and told deputies she was hungry.

"It was also determined that Andy and Melissa had a wreck while 'mudding' in their new vehicle," the CPS investigation notes.

The report tells that Webster called Steinburg from the emergency room of Dyersburg Regional Medical Center and told him she was paralyzed and asked for a ride back to the trailer.

On April 22, CPS caseworkers returned to the Cooper trailer and found Cooper and Webster at home. They reported the pair had been in a wreck the day before when they had tried to cross a bridge and fell off one side.

"Melissa appeared to be confused and possibly 'stoned'," noted the report. "They house was still wrecked and in disarray. Melissa showed some of her medications that were located in different places around the house; several bottles were on the floor."

Later that night, deputies were again called, this time to check reports of sexual abuse of the child. After deputies talked with the child, they realized the allegations were false.

"They had pulled this stunt before a few weeks before," said Holt.

The pair was arrested for filing a false police report; for Cooper, it was the second count due to the April 8, false kidnapping report.

Cooper and Webster appeared in court on April 23 and each were held on a $10,000 bond and appointed a public defender.

Webster's grandparents posted her bond on April 24. Cooper was unable to make bond, so the child was moved into the home of foster parents for the weekend.

Cooper was released on bond the next day, on April 25. On April 25, Judge Lyman Ingram signed an order moving the child into temporary protective custody by the state.

The order notes "it is in the best interest of the child … that it is contrary to the child's best interest to remain in custody or control of the mother …"

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At about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Jerry Webb saw Cooper and Webster come into the Gatlin's East convenience store. He said despite the busy afternoon, with families in line at the Baskin Robbins ice cream counter inside the store and patrons getting fuel, he took notice of the pair; he had told them to leave the premises three weeks earlier.

"They were using foul language in front of the kids," said Webb. "I told them to get out."

He said Cooper and Webster were "whispering about something" at the front counter when they bought two sodas.

"The younger girl asked the mother if they needed to get gas," said Webb. "And the mother said no."

The pair backed the sedan from the front parking space and pulled up to a gasoline dispenser, where they began to fill the tank.

Seconds later, Webb said he heard screams from a woman in the ice cream line -- the caregiver assisting the foster parents had taken the child for a treat.

"The mother moved fast for a fat woman," said Webb. "She grabbed the kid and was all the way to the car in a split second."

Webb said the young woman caring for the child screamed for someone to call 911. Several patrons from outside the store ran in with a description of the vehicle and license plate numbers and Webb called police. Within seconds, police had sent an alert to deputies and Crockett County officers about the kidnapping and the car with a child and two women heading south on 412