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Brown, aware that police were looking for him, dropped his daughter off with his mother in Jersey City a short time earlier, a law enforcement officer with direct knowledge of the incident told CLIFFVIEW PILOT just moments before the arrest.
The grandmother immediately called authorities, and the girl was reunited — unharmed — with her mother soon after.
Both were at a Hackensack shelter operated by the county earlier in the day when Brown tried to take the toddler out treat-or-treating. He ordinarily visited with his daughter, but this time the mother refused to let her leave with him, the officer said.
(There has been a recent history of domestic violence, including an incident in Fairview in which the mother, 19, had at least one tooth knocked out, CLIFFVIEW PILOT later learned).
Brown followed the woman into the building and an argument broke out. Surveillance video from the lobby shows Brown kicking the child’s stroller, knocking the toddler to the floor. He then scoops her up and flees.
Although police technically couldn’t call in an Amber Alert because Brown didn’t have a registered vehicle, New Jersey State Police issued a bulletin.
Bergen County Police Department officers also canvassed the area “and went to every known relative, telling them they were looking for [Brown] and that the child may be in danger,” the law enforcement officer told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Late Halloween night came the call from the grandmother.
“She said he ran in and dropped the baby off,” the officer said.
County police immediately rushed the mother to Jersey City, where the child was checked for injuries.
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