Mom Who Triggered Amber Alert Held On $25,000 Bail
BROCKTON (CBS) -- A 33-year-old mother was ordered held on $25,000 cash bail after she allegedly took both of her children from the children's father's Abington apartment on Thursday, triggering an Amber Alert.
Bruna Gomes, of Everett, is facing two counts of parental kidnapping and single counts of impersonating a police officer, home invasion, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (pepper spray) and reckless endangerment of a child.
She was arraigned in Brockton District Court on Friday.
Prosecutors say Gomes knocked on the apartment door around 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning, saying that she was Abington police.
She then sprayed pepper spray in a caretaker's eyes before physically removing the children and fleeing, police say.
Gomes was later arrested at a hotel in Yarmouth. The kids were found safe, swimming at the hotel pool.
The attorney for Bruno Coelho, the kids' father, says Gomes hired a private investigator to keep an eye on him and the children so she could find the right opportunity to make her move and take the children.
The father declined to comment on that, but did say "The kids (are) too young to know what happened yet. They ask me a lot about the babysitter (to see if he is fine) because they like the babysitter a lot."
Andrea Silva, Gomes' friend, says Gomes is a great mother and a hard worker.
Gomes' attorney said she had every legal right to take her children and has done nothing wrong.
They claim Gomes "Simply went to vacation with her kids on the Cape and used her own credit card," according to a tweet by WBZ-TV's Paul Burton.
The judge said he didn't believe the vacation story, adding that he could not condone her actions.
He ordered Gomes to comply with the state Department of Children and Families, surrender her passport, and stay away from the Walnut Street apartment.
She also must stay away from the Abington man who had been caring for the children when Gomes allegedly pepper sprayed him.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey Reports