Attempted kidnapping spree

A woman was arrested in downtown Chico on Monday (Sept. 22) for allegedly trying to abduct two children from their strollers.

Chico police responded to a report of a possible domestic dispute at the Chico City Plaza around 10 a.m., finding that 44-year-old Rebecca Ware of Chico had allegedly attempted to “forcibly take a child” from a woman on the 300 block of Broadway Street, according to a Chico Police Department press release. The parent pulled the stroller away and reportedly “got into a physical confrontation” with Ware.

Ware then allegedly tried to take another child from a stroller near the corner of Third and Flume streets. In that case, the parent “was assisted by an alert citizen, who physically took Ware to the ground.”

Both parents and children were uninjured. Ware was arrested on a charge of attempted kidnapping and booked in Butte County Jail.