COURTESY OF YARMOUTH POLICE
Mugshot of Bruna Gomes.
WEST YARMOUTH – The mother accused of taking her three children from a babysitter’s home in Abington this morning, causing State Police to issue an Amber Alert, was arrested this afternoon in Yarmouth.
Police say that Bruna Gomes, 33, used pepper spray on the babysitter and forced her way into the home before taking the three children around 12:25 p.m.
Gomes’ cell phone was tracked to a motel in West Yarmouth, but police were unable to locate her at the location.
Police later located the blue 2007 Nissan Quest Van that she was driving in around 1:45 p.m. on Route 28 near Higgins Crowell Road, but police lost contact with the vehicle in the summer traffic.
“From that point on we kept searching and pounding that area for that suspect vehicle,” said Yarmouth Deputy Police Chief Steven Xiarhos.
“We alerted Barnstable Police and all the other agencies. She may have gotten into Barnstable, but we didn’t think so.”
Bruna Gomes with her children, Nathan and Nathalia Coelho.
Police later received a tip from the Econolodge Motel on Route 28, that the vehicle matching the description and license plate number was found in the parking lot.
That tip came from the motel owner’s son Sanket Bhagat.
“They had seen the Amber Alert and they were very good, they called us and said she’s here in one of the rooms”, said Xiarhos.
Officers then obtained keys for room number 144 where Gomes was staying and she was taken into custody without incident at approximately 3:25 p.m.
Her children, Nathalia Coelho, 7, and Nathan Coelho, 8, and a baby were located with Gomes at the hotel and are now at Yarmouth Police Headquarters.
The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families are currently with the children and will decide on eventual custody and control.
Gomes was charged with probable cause arrest for home invasion from the Abington Police Department.
Abington Police arrived at Yarmouth Police Headquarters today and transported Gomes back to Abington.
Sorry but this sounds so fishy. So much has been left out. Did the mother not have custody or what? And why would she want to take the children from a sitter unless she didn’t have custody? People who genuinely love their children end up caught in a financial custody battle from which the parent with the least money loses. Where is the fairness? Better yet, when will the media stop portraying a loving desperate parent as child stealing terrorist? Stop giving half stories aimed at hating a parent that just wants to be near their children.