Dad came to the boy's rescue

MERIDIAN - A Meridian family was gearing up for a trip to the store when they say a stranger appeared and tried to kidnap a two-year-old child from his mother’s arms.

It happened Sunday afternoon at the Corona family home in the area of Linder Road and Cherry Lane. Celia Corona was putting her young son into her car when she says a man tried to take the car and her baby.

Police say that man is Danny Ray Watson, 39, of Boise.  He was arraigned Monday on charges of felony attempted kidnapping and two counts of battery. He remains in the Ada County Jail on $250,000 bond and is due back in court next week for a preliminary hearing.

The victim was unable to interview with us because of her work schedule, but her sister Mari described what happened right outside the family’s home.

"(Ceilia) opened the door of her car, she was going to put the baby in a car seat when all of a sudden, someone touched her in the back and he said ‘give me the car and the baby,’" Mari said. "She just threw the keys at him because she said she doesn't care that they take the car, but she wouldn't leave without the baby.  So my dad came running out of the house and they started fight, but he kept saying that he had a gun.”

Despite his efforts to detain the stranger until police arrived, Manuel Corona says the suspect broke free.

Even though he didn't have time to put his shoes on, Manuel chased the would-be-kidnapper throughout the neighborhood, but wasn't able to catch him.

Two hours later, Meridian Police arrested Watson eight blocks from the Corona's home.

No one was seriously injured in the altercation, and Mari said the two-year-old is too young to understand what happened.

"My sister said ‘I didn't care what was happening around me, I just wanted my baby,’” Mari said. ”We're just glad everything turned out alright."

The Coronas say they've never seen the suspect before and they do not know who he is. It appears to them to be a random attack.