An Auburn woman was charged in connection with an attempted kidnapping and assault that took place in SeaTac on Sept. 7, according to King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg.
Tiffany Murdock, 27, was charged with second-degree attempted kidnapping and fourth-degree assault, according to charging documents
Murdock’s bail was set by a judge at $150,000 due to the nature of the crime, according to a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
“The defendant’s actions were brazen and extremely dangerous,” charging documents state. “In the course of attempting to kidnap this 2 year old child, the defendant assaulted and threw the child’s mother, who is seven and a half months pregnant, to the ground.”
The incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. Sept. 7 at Angle Lake Park in SeaTac Washington, a pregnant mother was holding hands with her two-year-old son and walking through the park, according to charging documents. Then, Murdock allegedly walked up to the mother and child and grabbed the child’s arm, attempting to pull him away from the mother.
The mother began to scream for help at which point Murdock allegedly grabbed the mother by her hair and threw her to the ground and took her son, charging documents state. Murdock allegedly told the mother the child was actually hers, according to charging documents.
As this was happening, witnesses of the assault intervened, a woman on the scene took the son away from Murdock and returned him to his mother, according to the charging documents.
As the woman escorted the mother and her son to their car to make sure she was safe to leave, other witnesses called 911 to report the incident, according to charging documents.
Murdock eventually left the scene on foot, charging documents state. The victim went to a hospital for an evaluation to make sure her unborn child was not harmed in the assault. The victim herself was not injured, charging documents state.
The victim identified Murdock in a photo montage of inmates who had been incarcerated in the King County Jail, however the victim was not certain it was the woman who assaulted her, charging documents state.
On Sept. 12, Auburn Police officers arrested Murdock on an outstanding warrant; she was then booked into King County Jail, according to charging documents.
On Sept. 14, the witness who helped the mother and her son back to their car identified Murdock in a photo montage with 80% certainty, giving police probable cause to make the arrest for kidnapping and assault.
Later on Sept. 14, Murdock was arrested again by Auburn officers, this time on assault and kidnapping charges, and booked into King County Jail, according to charging documents.
Murdock also has a pending fourth degree assault charge from July 24, according to charging documents.
