Dallas Police Charge Woman with Kidnapping 2 Kids

Police say two kids were taken from a store while father was in the changing room.

A McKinney woman is in the Dallas County Jail after police said she kidnapped two young children.

Brianah Blount, 23, was arrested Wednesday after officers said she kidnapped a 7-year-old boy and his 4-year-old sister on New Year’s Eve. Police said the childrens’ father left them unattended at the Garland Road Thrift Store in Dallas while he tried on clothes. When he came out of the changing room, his kids were gone.

Dallas police said Blount took the kids to an apartment complex approximately four miles away.

April Hobbs said she knows Blount and saw the kids outside her apartment standing with her.

“The little girl came and jumped into my arms and was like, 'I’m scared, I’m scared, I don’t know where my dad is,'” said Hobbs.

Hobbs said she's never seen the kids before in the close-knit community and she knew Blount wasn't their mother. Hobbs called 911 after realizing what the kids were going through.

“Something in my chest said something wasn't right,” she said.

Court records state that Blount said she found the kids alone at a thrift store. But she never tried to call police.

Blount has a young child of her own and people who know the 23-year-old don't understand why she would intentionally kidnap someone else's children.

“I don't know what the police know that I don't know, but I definitely can’t see Brianah doing anything like that,” said Hobbs. “She’s a sweet girl.”

Blount’s father said the accusations are very out of character of his daughter.

Blount spoke Friday with NBC 5 and our news partners Rhe Dallas Morning News from the Dallas County Jail.

She said she saw the kids alone, and they followed her out.

She said she did not kidnap the kids and that she was just trying to help.

“It is like any time I had an intention to call the police somebody said I couldn’t use their phone,” said Blount.

And she explained why she took the kids to the nearby complex, where she said she has friends.

“I felt like I trusted them and needed someone with me when I called the police, and they’re the only people that I trusted to call the police,” she added.

Police said the two kids who were kidnapped are now in the care of their father.

NBC 5's Julie Fine and Todd L. Davis contributed to this report.

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