A Florida woman disguised as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and briefly kidnapped her ex-boyfriend’s wife from her job, according to officials.
On April 10, Latrance Battle, 52, went to the woman’s employer at a hotel chain, wearing a black clothing with ICE printed on the front, according to the Bay County Sheriff’s Office.
Battle, who was carrying a hand-held radio, showed the woman a sheriff’s office business card and informed her she had to go with her, according to the BCSO.
“Due to fear, the victim got in the vehicle and went willingly with Latrance,” a sheriff’s office statement read. “The victim confirmed that she genuinely felt as if Latrance was an ICE agent at the time and she is in the process of becoming a legal United States resident.”
According to the Miami Herald, Battle spoke into her hand-held radio while driving, which fuelled the victim’s suspicion that she was being kidnapped by an ICE agent.
During the ride, the woman attempted to call her husband and lawyer before Battle “forcefully snatched” the phone from her, according to authorities.
The woman got sceptical when they arrived at the Bridge Plaza apartment complex, where Battle claimed more ICE officials would be there, according to the newspaper.
“The victim suspected something was wrong because Latrance told the victim they were going to the Sheriff’s Office,” it stated. “As Latrance went inside the apartment, the victim fled and called law enforcement.”
The woman told deputies she hid behind a neighbor’s car. When Battle exited her apartment, she noticed the neighbour and asked him if he had seen a lady running, the neighbour told deputies.
Battle informed the neighbour that she seized the woman’s phone because “she knows what she did,” according to authorities. According to authorities, the neighbour brought the kidnapped woman into his apartment until law enforcement came, at which point she called her husband and identified the phoney ICE agent.
According to the Miami Herald, the husband claimed the description sounded like his ex-girlfriend, who had attacked him at work two years ago, causing him to get a protection order against her.
Battle was caught on her way to Alabama and charged with kidnapping, robbery by abrupt snatching, impersonating a law enforcement officer, and felony probation violation.