Infant dies after man who abducted her crashes car into house while fleeing police in Ohio

Police were pursuing the man when he crashed. Photo / 123rf

Warning: Distressing content

A US man who abducted a 7-month-old girl in Ohio crashed his car into a house while fleeing police, killing the infant and critically injuring himself.

The crash occurred shortly before 4pm on Tuesday in Tiffin, about 100km north of Colombus, authorities said.

The Wood County Sheriff’s Office sent out an alert naming Jonathan Baker, 23, of North Baltimore, Ohio, after he took the child earlier that day while reportedly armed with a gun. Soon after, Baker contacted the girl’s mother and told her he was feeling homicidal and suicidal, and saying he had killed the child.

Authorities did not say if Baker was related to the girl or her mother, and they did not disclose more details about how the abduction occurred.

Tiffin Police Chief David Pauly said an off-duty city officer spotted Baker’s car and alerted department officials. The officer then followed Baker and provided colleagues with information about their location.

Officers in police cruisers soon attempted to stop the vehicle, but authorities said Baker sped up before driving off the road, through the front yard of one home before crashing into another, knocking the home off its foundation.

Law enforcement officers broke the car’s back window to retrieve the infant, whose head was bleeding and who had laboured breathing. She was taken to a hospital but died soon after.

Baker was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Toledo, where authorities said he remains in critical condition.

Chief David Pauly of the Tiffin Police Department said “my heart breaks for the family of this innocent child and you can be sure this matter will be investigated thoroughly to determine exactly why and what occurred today” in a post to social media.

“The Tiffin Police wish to extend our deepest condolences to the family. I appreciate the work of our Tiffin Officers, Detectives and Dispatchers. Additionally, I would like to thank our many first-responding partners including the Seneca County Sheriff’s Deputies and Detectives, Fostoria Detectives, and Tiffin Fire and Rescue Division. This was an unfortunate tragedy today and these things also take its toll on our first responders. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well”.

- Additional reporting, NZ Herald