A Warsaw woman was arrested Friday on charges of interfering with custody, a class C misdemeanor.
Jamie Lee Hecke, 36, of 3762 W. Old 30, Lot 690, Warsaw, was arrested at 4:33 p.m. Friday. She is being held on a $400 bond.
According to a probable cause affidavit from the Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Officer, on July 2, a Warsaw police officer was dispatched to a citizen’s assist at approximately 12:31 a.m.
The officer spoke with a woman who claimed she had just received a frantic phone call from her babysitter claiming a woman, identified as Jamie Hecke, had allegedly taken the victim’s infant child from her residence without permission and left a note for the victim to contact her.
The officer was able to locate a last known address for Hecke in his patrol car computer system and asked the victim to meet him at Hecke’s residence to begin an investigation.
The officer arrived at the residence and was informed Hecke was inside the residence. He was invited in to speak with Hecke and asked her about the incident while taping the conversation on his patrol car’s audio and visual recording system.
Hecke told police she had received a phone call from an unknown male asking if she knew where the child was located. She told the man she did not know where the child was. He told her the child had been at his apartment crying all day.
Hecke said she then went to the apartment in question and saw the man coming out of the residence. He told her the child was in the bassinet. Hecke told police she walked inside and found the child asleep in a bassinet completely covered by a blanket. Hecke said she gave the child’s babysitter a note to give to the baby’s mother, put the infant in his car seat and left the residence with the child.
The officer asked Hecke how she is related to the baby and she said she had been dating his father for about four months and the three had previously been living together. The infant’s father had full custody of the child until he went to jail two months ago and then the infant’s mother gained custody. Police asked Hecke if the child’s father had asked her to pick him up that day and she he did not know anything about it.
The infant’s mother arrived at Hecke’s residence and gathered the child and his belongings. When interviewing the victim, she told police the same story a second time, she had just left the apartment with a friend to go shopping and received a frantic call from her babysitter that someone had taken the child out of the home.
Officers interviewed the babysitter who advised earlier that day she and another female roommate had kicked a third male roommate, identified as the unknown male caller, out of the house. She was alone in the apartment with the baby and had locked the front door. She was walking around the apartment when the male roommate allegedly entered using a plastic ID or credit card to open the door. The babysitter said the male was followed in the apartment by Hecke and they both began yelling at her to give them the baby. The babysitter also said they were threatening to call the police on her and threatened physical harm, so she released the child to Hecke. Hecke gave her the note, told her to give it to the child’s mother and then left with child and his belongings, including his car seat. She was able to provide the note for police.
Officers determined after speaking with the victim and the babysitter that both appeared to act normally and were not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol. They were released from the scene with the child.
Hecke was placed in handcuffs and placed in a patrol car until a detective arrived. She then was transported to the Warsaw Police Department where Hecke was read her Miranda rights and an interview was conducted.
Hecke told the detective she was home that day and received a phone call from an unknown male, later identified as the victim’s former roommate. The male caller told her the infant was left alone in a drug house while his mother went to Elkhart to buy drugs and gave her the address of where the child was located. The caller originally told Hecke the child had been crying all day. Hecke told police she tried to call the child’s paternal grandparents, but received no answer. Then she went to the residence, where the male roommate was leaving. He told her to go in and get the child in the bassinet. She entered the apartment and found the child screaming in the bassinet, handed the note to the babysitter, loaded the child in her vehicle, drove to her residence and she had only been home a few minutes before police arrived to speak with her.
Police asked Hecke why she told him the infant was originally sleeping in the bassinet if he was screaming. She said she orignally told him he was screaming and became defensive. The detective showed Hecke the note the babysitter had given him and she confirmed she had written the entire note.
Police asked Hecke if she had spoken to the child’s mother or father about taking the child from the babysitter and she said she had not spoken to either of them. The detective asked Hecke why she did not call Child Protective Services or the police to check on the welfare of the child. She said she did not want to get anyone in trouble by calling the police and the CPS office was not open. The detective informed Hecke CPS has a 24-hour emergency hotline that takes reports at anytime.
