Suspect arrested in theft of SUV in Valrico with infant inside

Tony Marrero, Tampa Bay Times
·3 min read

TAMPA — A 26-year-old man has been arrested on a kidnapping charge in connection with an SUV stolen from a Valrico driveway last month that had an infant inside, deputies said.

Rashad Lamont Mann stole the Volkswagen SUV from a home on the 2600 block of Green Valley Street on Feb. 6 while 1-year-old Tinnley Sage West was asleep in the back seat, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday. The Volkswagen was unlocked and running at the time as girl’s mother and grandmother were unloading groceries.

A corporal located the SUV, with Tinnley safe inside, a couple of hours later at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church.

“I can truly say now this is the best possible outcome to that dreadful February day,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said at a news conference announcing Mann’s arrest as Tinnley’s parents and other family members stood behind him.

Mann was initially arrested March 3 in connection with a string of six burglaries in eastern Hillsborough County, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Detectives investigating the burglaries identified a vehicle of interest in the case, a white Nissan Altima, and spotted Mann and another man inside, Chronister said. Deputies conducted surveillance of the two men, saw them burglarizing a home and arrested them, Chronister said.

“Upon arrest, detectives immediately recognized similarities between Rashad Mann and the individual involved in baby Tinnley’s kidnapping,” Chronister said at a news conference announcing Mann’s arrest in the kidnapping case.

The Sheriff’s Office had released home surveillance video of a man they thought was the suspect in the case and “when they arrested him for the burglaries, one of the detectives said, ‘Hey, this looks like just the guy in the Ring video,’” Chronister said.

Investigators collected DNA from Mann and sent it to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to be compared with DNA swabs collected from the stolen Volkswagen. The DNA came back as a match on Monday, Chronister said.

Mann was being held in the Hillsborough County jail Wednesday in lieu of $336,000 bail, records show. In addition to kidnapping, he faces 15 other charges including child abuse, armed burglary, grand theft and illegally possessing a firearm as a felon. Jail records show he lives in Valrico.

At a news conference the day of the kidnapping, Chronister said he would thank whoever stole the SUV if the person returned Tinnley unharmed. On the way to work Wednesday, Chronister said he went to the jail and thanked Mann on behalf of the family, the Sheriff’s Office and the community for leaving the SUV parked at a church with the baby safe inside.

Tinnley’s parents, Chelsea Noriega and Jon West, said they were grateful to the Sheriff’s Office for its quick work to track down Mann.

“He’s going to do his time in jail and what he deserves, and that’s probably a better outcome from what I would have done to him,” West said.

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