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PROVO — A Provo man was arrested after police say he tried to grab a baby out of a car.
Emilio Lopez Bernal, 51, was booked into the Utah County Jail Tuesday and was charged Thursday in 4th District Court with attempted child kidnapping, a first-degree felony.
Just before 5 p.m. Tuesday, two women were sitting in a car in a driveway with a 1-year-old girl in the back seat. Police say they were waiting for a third woman to come out so they could run errands when Bernal walked up to the vehicle.
"While they were sitting in the car, Emilio reportedly approached and opened the back passenger door where the victim was standing up in her car seat and reached toward her and said, 'Give me the baby' in Spanish," according to a police booking affidavit.
A woman in the car began yelling at Bernal to get away from the car while he allegedly shouted back at the women to give him the baby. "At this point, Emilio had leaned into the car and was reaching for the child," the affidavit states.
One of the women grabbed the girl, got out of the car through the opposite door and ran into the home. The woman called police while Bernal went to the other side of the yard and stood in some bushes, according to police.
When officers arrived and questioned Bernal, "he made odd statements about thinking the car was his cousin's and admitted to opening the back door," the affidavit states. "Emilio kept changing his story on how he knew the occupants of the car and who they were and kept claiming they were family, although no one in the home knew him."
Police also noted in the arrest report that Bernal talked to himself and "acted like he was talking to someone sitting next to him when no one was there. He appears to be possibly suffering from some sort of mental illness or drug-induced issue."
After being questioned, Bernal was arrested.
He was charged last year in 4th District Court with DUI for driving with methamphetamine in his system and having a fake Social Security card, according to charging documents. There were also warrants out for Bernal's arrest on Tuesday for failing to show up to Utah County Justice Court on two cases involving traffic violations.
