The sister of a man accused of kidnapping a toddler who was rescued by DeKalb County police says it was a "misunderstanding."
"My brother, never in his life, would hurt a kid," George Arnold's sister, Saachia, told Channel 2 Action News. She said he took the 18-month-old toddler, whose mother he dated, on his own regularly, especially when the couple is fighting.
But the mother, Brittany Jackson, said he didn’t have permission and assaulted her before taking the boy last week. She said she was scared as police tracked her phone, which was in the car with the baby when Arnold drove away from a hotel on Memorial Drive.
READ: Doctors and the opioid crisis: An AJC National Investigation
READ: In Fulton and DeKalb, dozens of murder suspects out on bond
READ: DeKalb man says he was 'playing' with gun when he killed girlfriend
Arnold wrecked the car and later handed over the boy to police who tracked Arnold down at his mother’s house. He was outside against a wall of the house, clutching the child.
The boy had to be treated for hypothermia, according to the warrants.
Police charged him with kidnapping, cruelty to children, driving on a suspended license, theft by taking and battery.