SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) Surveillance footage from the Utah Transit Authority shows an incident where an unhoused man struck a woman and allegedly attempted to take her baby.
Benjamin Dillman, 56, was charged with attempted kidnapping on Aug. 1, after allegedly trying to remove a baby from a stroller and pushing the child’s mother away while at a Trax platform.
According to court documents, on July 29, a woman was at a Trax station in Salt Lake County with her 3-month-old baby, who was in a stroller. The woman told police that she was approached by an unknown male, later identified as Dillman.
In the video, obtained by affiliate KTVX through a records request, the woman can be seen walking her stroller on the platform when a man strides up behind her. The woman attempts to move away from him, and he begins to follow.
Documents say that he stated, “This is my baby, give her to me,” as the mother tried to get away. The video shows a man striking the mother in the face when she attempts to stop him from getting to her baby.
A witness and the mother reported Dillman was actively trying to unbuckle the 3-month-old from the stroller and pick her up while claiming that the baby belonged to him.
In the video, a man who walked up the raised platform can be seen reaching over the bars to push the man trying to take the baby away. He can be seen leaving on the surveillance video as bystanders check in on the woman.
Following the incident, police were contacted and UTA police used this surveillance footage to locate and arrest Dillman. The arresting officer stated that Dillman’s actions were “particularly brazen and constitute a substantial danger to the community.”
He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail, where is currently being held on a no-bail warrant.
