Man charged for kidnapping infant and attempting to flee the state

A man was arrested at Logan Aiport on Saturday after allegedly kidnapping his 7-month-old son from the child’s mother’s home in Lynn, officials said.

Ronald Taylor, 33, of New York, was charged with kidnapping and reckless endangerment to a child, according to court records.

At his arraignment Monday in Lynn District Court, he pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $1,000 bail and to have no contact with the child if released.

At approximately 12:30 am on Saturday, the child’s mother, 28, told police Taylor had taken the infant without her permission and left with him in an Uber.

She told officers she had “gotten into a verbal argument with (Taylor) about not wanting to be with him anymore,” police said. After the fight, she went to run errands and left Taylor to watch the baby. When she came back, they were gone, she told officers.

The woman officers told she and Taylor had not been together for “a while now,” according to court records. Prosecutors said she was the child’s legal custody.

After Taylor left with the child, he sent the woman text messages that included a recording of him and the baby and told her he was planning on taking a train with the infant back to New York.

The child’s mother told officers that Taylor was endangering the health of the infant, who was born prematurely and has struggled with health conditions that required oxygen therapy. When the child was taken, her stroller had only “one tank of air with no reserves,” police said.

The child was exposed to “substantial risk of injury due to significant medical needs” that Taylor was aware of, police said.

State Police arrested Taylor at Boston Logan International Airport several hours later, officials said. Officers tracked him down by tracing his cell phone, police said.

Taylor was found carrying three pieces of luggage, police said. He told officers that “most of the stuff in the luggage belonged to the baby” and that he “wanted it returned to the mother.”

According to court documents, a report of suspected child abuse or neglect was filed with the Department of Children and Families last month after Taylor was arrested for allegedly hitting his child’s mother in the face.

Officers driving on Munroe Street in Lynn were flagged down by a man who reported that the woman had fled her apartment and “was scared,” according to a police report. When officers spoke with her, they said it was clear she had been “involved in some type of altercation as she was crying and her upper lip appeared to be swollen.”

Taylor was charged with assault and battery on a family or household member, court documents say. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment July 29 in Lynn District Court and was ordered held on $1,000 bail.

Sabrina Lam can be reached at [email protected].