COLUMBUS – The case of a Newark man whose abduction of his daughter prompted an Amber Alert Sunday will be turned over to a Licking County grand jury, police said.
Matthew Trent was arrested shortly after he took his 17-month-old daughter, who was unharmed, Sgt. Clint Eskins of the Newark Division of Police said.
A statewide Amber Alert was issued just before 6:30 p.m. after Trent abducted his daughter, Keira Marie, Eskins said. Police believed Trent had a loaded firearm and had threatened to harm himself,
Trent, 27, got involved in a domestic dispute with the child’s mother and took a car seat from her at a Kroger store in Newark, Eskins said. From there, he drove to a family gathering on 11th Street and took the child, threatening to harm himself.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol issued at Amber Alert and an investigators from the Bureau of Criminal Investigation was dispatched to assist in the search, Eskins said.
After authorities received a call that Trent was on a farm on Briarcliff Road officers and deputies with the Licking County Sheriff’s Officer were dispatched and Trent was taken into custody, said Eskins.
Officers removed several loaded firearms from Trent’s car and Eskins says he was taken to the Licking County Justice Center.