PIO Number: 24-7-1 (24-6-33)
Broward Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit detectives arrested the suspect who carjacked a woman and drove off with her child in the back seat. An anonymous tip led to the identification of the suspect, 35-year-old Willio Petioma.
Shortly after 8:28 a.m., on Wednesday, June 26, Broward County Regional Communications received a call reporting a stolen vehicle at 850 W. Commercial Blvd. in Oakland Park.
The preliminary investigation revealed the victims, a mother and her three-year-old daughter, were involved in a car accident with another vehicle. When the mother exited her car to exchange information with the other driver, an unknown adult male entered the driver side of her vehicle and began to drive away with her child inside.
Investigators say, the mother grabbed onto the front passenger door of her vehicle and yelled out to the subject that her child was inside of the car. The mother was dragged before falling to the ground as the subject drove away.
Investigators obtained surveillance video of the subject that captures several moments. First, the subject is seen exiting the vehicle with the child in the car seat and leaving her in a sidewalk. Another moment captures the subject abandoning the vehicle. The final video captures the subject using the victim’s credit card at a Family Dollar store.
On Sunday, June 30, Petioma was taken into custody and booked into the BSO Main Jail. He faces charges that include kidnapping, carjacking, interfering with custody of a minor and illegal use of a credit card. He was also arrested on a Palm Beach County warrant for possession of cocaine and resisting an officer.
THIS REPORT BY:
Miranda Grossman/PIO
