A Florida couple has been taken into custody after attempting to entice a 9-year-old girl who was playing in her front yard into their van, as stated by the police. Michael Diaz, aged 34, and Taiana Tersano, aged 31, were apprehended following the incident on McKinley Street in Hollywood on November 3rd. The Hollywood Police Department obtained an arrest affidavit, which detailed the events leading up to the arrest. At approximately 4:30 p.m., a woman contacted 911 to report a van occupied by a man, woman, and a small child trying to lure her daughter into the vehicle. The girl, under the supervision of her mother’s boyfriend, was playing in the front yard when the van approached. Tersano, with her window rolled down, called out to the girl in a “normal tone,” saying, “Come here,” according to the arrest report. Frightened, the girl ran inside the house. The woman, who was inside the house at the time, rushed outside when she heard screaming. She witnessed Tersano, the woman in the van, attempting to approach her daughter, but the boyfriend intervened, preventing any contact from occurring. The report stated that Tersano was heard threatening to return and harm them, stating, “I’m going to come back and kill all of you.” Police interviewed a witness who observed the entire incident from a nearby stop sign. The mother’s boyfriend, who was sitting in his car, attempted to deescalate the situation, but Tersano spat on him and punched him. Diaz, the man in the van, was heard saying, “Grab the f—— kid,” according to the arrest report. Tersano made another attempt to approach the 9-year-old, but the boyfriend “struck her in the face in self-defense,” as stated in the affidavit. Tersano then fled back into the van, and they drove away. After providing the couple’s description to the police, officers located the van and conducted a traffic stop. During the stop, officers noticed the couple’s 7-year-old child in the back of the van, not properly seated and surrounded by loose mechanical tools. Child protective investigators were contacted, and the child was placed in their care. Tersano was arrested and placed in a patrol car. However, during the traffic stop, she jumped out of the car when the door opened and lunged toward an officer. When the police attempted to return her to the patrol car, she wrapped her legs around an officer’s legs and even struck an officer’s hand with her feet while lying flat in the backseat. The couple’s van was towed when Diaz and Tersano were arrested, and they were transported to Broward County Jail. They have been charged with luring/enticing a child under the age of 12 and causing a child to become delinquent, according to arrest records. Tersano is facing two additional charges of resisting an officer with violence.
Police: Florida Couple Allegedly Attempted to Kidnap 9-Year-Old Girl, Urged Each Other to “Grab the Child”
