Police: Concerned citizens intercepted kidnapping in Sioux Falls

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Concerned citizens intercepted a kidnapping by flagging down Sioux Falls police and directed them to a suspicious suspect in possession of a one-year-old child.

Authorities with the Sioux Falls Police Department said officers were driving through Sioux Falls Saturday morning when concerned citizens directed them to a suspicious suspect who had a one-year-old child with him. Initially, the suspect told the officers he was being shot at and was concerned for his safety. The suspect claimed that he was an uncle of the child but could not provide the parents’ names.

The suspect was arrested for an outstanding warrant. Soon after, a call was made to police that the child who had been with the suspect had been taken from her home. The man was loosely acquainted with the child’s parents, and while they were at work, he had gone to their apartment and forced his way inside, pushing past the child’s caretaker to take the child and leave. Officials have not determined what the suspect’s intentions were.

Michael Flann Neal, Jr., 36, from Sioux Falls, has been charged with 2nd-degree kidnapping and drug charges for possessing a small amount of meth.