Woman arrested, accused of attempting to kidnap kid, threatening parents with machete

By Web Staff

Click here for updates on this story

    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — A woman was arrested for attempting to kidnap a child in downtown Portland on Sunday, according to Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office.

Portland police responded to the area in front of the Voodoo Donuts at 22 Southwest 3rd Avenue where a woman was attempting to kidnap a child while threatening the parents with a machete. They arrived and took Elizabeth Ann Zurcher-Wood into custody in the area of Southwest 1st and Southwest Ankeny.

Alexandra Perez, the child’s mother, told police that she was getting pizza with her 6-year-old son and a group of friends near 3rd Avenue. According to court documents, Zurcher-Wood walked up to them, talking to herself and accused them of kidnapping her son. Perez, her son and group, tried to get away, but Zurcher-Wood followed them, saying that Perez’s son was hers and that they had kidnapped him.

Court documents said Zurcher-Wood then reached out and tried to grab the boy. Perez threw her pizza at Zurcher-Wood and told her to leave them alone. Zurcher-Wood pulled out a machete, threatened Perez, who is Black, and called her a racial slur. A second person in the group confirmed the incident to the police.

Zurcher-Wood was arrested and charged with second-degree attempted kidnapping, unlawful use of a weapon, menacing, first-degree bias crime and unlawful use of a weapon.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.