BLOOMINGTON – A Westville man is behind bars after police say he kidnapped his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter and the babysitting couple.
Bloomington police stated they were called on Thursday, October 19 around 2:45 a.m. on a report of a possible abduction in progress.
The caller told police that 36-year-old Richard Allen White, Jr. had taken her co-worker’s child, the child’s babysitter, and the babysitter’s boyfriend involuntarily. When investigators spoke to the co-worker and mother of the taken child, she confirmed that White had taken her 5-year-old daughter and the two people who were babysitting her child.
The mother of the 5-year-old reported Allen was in a “fit of anger” because she refused to discuss her earnings for the night over the phone with others around her to overhear.
White then became “all crazy” and began calling the club’s business phone and blowing up her cell phone.
According to court documents when the other of the 5-year-old checked her security cameras at her apartment, she saw that her daughter was not in her bedroom.
White reportedly called the woman several times and sent audio messages stating he would hold “everyone hostage” if she didn’t answer the phone or come outside.
According to police, White continued to threaten and harass her and videotaped the 5-year-old girl in the backseat of the vehicle in an attempt to bribe the mother into answering her phone.
White stated in a message that he attempted to evade officers and threatened to “take the cops on a high-speed chase” with the 5-year-old inside if the mother did not pick up the phone and leave with him.
After a 45-minute search, police located White and detained him for questioning. They also located the 5-year-old girl and the babysitting couple in the car.
In an interview, the couple told investigators they felt White had indirectly threatened them when he said “everyone in the car would end up getting hurt” if the woman didn’t answer the phone.
The couple told police they were fearful because of White’s “erratic” actions.
White coaxed the couple into the car stating there was an emergency with the girl’s mother and that they were going to pick her up. White denied those allegations stating everyone entered the car voluntarily. He told police he had contacted the girl’s mother because he felt her place of employment was slow and that she should come home to be with her daughter.
White also stated he attempted to flee officers because he was wanted on an active warrant for a probation violation on a domestic battery case in 2021.
White will face new felony charges of kidnapping a victim less than 14 years old, two counts of kidnapping with a vehicle, three counts of intimidation where the defendant uses or draws a deadly weapon, intimidation by force, and theft with a prior conviction.
An initial hearing was scheduled for Oct. 23 at 1 p.m.
