A child’s nightmare about a “monster” hiding under the bed turned out to be real.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to a disturbance call outside Great Bend, Kan., at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday, according to a statement posted on social media by the Barton County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday.
When law enforcement arrived at the residence, the victim said she was helping the children she was babysitting get ready to sleep when one of them complained that there was a “monster” under the bed.
Initially, the babysitter tried to comfort the child, but was shocked with what she found.
“When the victim attempted to show the child there was nothing under the bed, she came face-to-face with a male suspect who was hiding there,” the statement read.
The startling discovery led to an “altercation” with the man, which knocked over the babysitter and one child.
The suspect fled before deputies arrived.
While the sheriff’s office didn’t specify the suspect’s relationship with the children and the babysitter, and whether the victims and suspect knew each other, officials were able to confirm the identity of the suspect as Martin Villalobos Jr.
Villalobos Jr., 27, once lived at the residence, but according to the sheriff’s office, “there was a protection from abuse order issued against him to stay away from the property.”
Deputies tried unsuccessfully to find the suspect in the area that night. On Tuesday morning, the suspect was spotted in the area and tried to escape on foot. Deputies captured him a short time later.
Villalobos Jr. was arrested and detained at the Barton County Jail. He was accused of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, child endangerment, felony obstruction of a law enforcement officer and violation of a protection from abuse order.
He is being held in lieu of a US$500,000 bond, according to the sheriff’s office.
