Brazen Child Abduction Suspect Taken Into Custody
At approximately 10:00AM on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, a mother and her 2-year old son had boarded a muni bus on the 600 block of Sansome Street. While waiting to receive a transfer slip from the bus operator, a man identified as 45-year old Sudesh Singh of Oakland, quickly entered the bus and forcibly took the 2-year old child who had been standing next to his mother. Upon taking the child, Singh began to walk away northbound on Sansome Street. The mother screamed and quickly exited the bus confronting Singh who was holding her crying son. The mother pulled the child away from Singh and then re-boarded the bus so that she could continue on to her intended destination. The child appeared to be physically unharmed.
Later that evening, the mother’s sister learned of the abduction and contacted the San Rafael Police Department who then referred her to the San Francisco Police Department. Investigators from the SFPD Special Victim’s Unit (SVU) were assigned to this abduction and they were able to obtain video footage of the event. The investigators were then able to identify Singh when it was learned that Singh had been contacted by officers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security who had earlier detained him on the 600 block of Sansome for acting suspiciously.
San Francisco Police SVU investigators issued a crime alert to local law enforcement agencies with Singh’s information and a description of the event. In the early morning hours of November 20th, Singh was contacted by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) police officers at the San Francisco International Airport BART Station. These officers recognized Singh from the crime alert and immediately detained him. San Francisco Police investigators responded to the airport and placed him under arrest.
Singh was subsequently booked into the San Francisco County Jail for felony kidnapping and child endangerment. A booking photo was not available at the time of the press release.
While an arrest has been made in this incident, it remains an open investigation. Anyone with information on this crime is asked to contact the SFPD Special Victims Unit at (415) 558-5500, the Anonymous Tip Line at (415) 575-4444, or Text A Tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.