Background: The Costco warehouse location in Idaho Falls, Idaho (Google Maps). Inset: Michael Garrison Raine (Bonneville County Sheriff's Office).
An Idaho mother told police that a man at Costco allegedly tried to kidnap her infant by taking the shopping cart carrying her baby.
Michael Garrison Raine, 24, was released on $5,000 bail on Nov. 28 after being charged with second-degree kidnapping. According to court documents obtained by local news outlet East Idaho News, police confirmed that Raine was seen on surveillance video at a Costco warehouse location in Idaho Falls on Nov. 20 after a woman accused him of allegedly walking away with the shopping cart carrying her 4-week-old baby.
The woman told police that she was in the book aisle of the store with the cart out of her sight, but within arm's reach. She reportedly noticed a man, later identified as Raine, "lingering" around the same book section. The shopping cart was carrying a car seat with the baby strapped inside. According to the court documents, the woman "had a weird feeling to look at her cart," and when she turned around, it was gone.
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Police said that the woman searched for the cart carrying her baby and found it a couple of aisles over, being pushed by Raine. The woman quickly took the cart back, and Raine began apologizing profusely, saying, "I'll never do that again, I promise."
The woman reported the incident to the Idaho Falls Police Department on Nov. 25. Investigators were able to track her and Raine's movements through surveillance video. Police said they saw Raine enter the store and take an empty shopping cart before heading to the book section where the mother was, and where he reportedly "opened a book, brought the opened book up to his nose, then appeared to sniff the center pages of the book very closely."
After sniffing the book, Raine allegedly "grabbed the front end of the cart" carrying the woman's baby and "spun it around behind her." He was seen on video pushing the cart away before the woman quickly realized that it was gone. She was observed on video taking the cart back, and Raine reportedly went after her to try to talk to her. Raine then used the self-checkout to purchase some items and ate at the food court before leaving the store.
Police identified the actual owner of the Costco membership that Raine used as his roommate at Brigham Young University – Idaho Falls. The university confirmed that Raine was an enrolled student. The investigation also tracked Raine's vehicle to a nearby United States Marine Corps Recruiting Station, which Raine visited on the same day he went to Costco. Staff at the recruiting station told police that Raine went with two men in a different vehicle to the Military Entrance Processing Station in Boise, Idaho. Raine reportedly flunked the test after being "disqualified for psychological reasons."
Raine revisited the recruiting station on Nov. 26, and Idaho Falls Police detectives detained him there for questioning. When they asked him about his trip to Costco on Nov. 20, he told them "nothing out of the ordinary happened." He was reminded about the alleged incident with the baby in the shopping cart and reportedly responded, "Oh! That! I am so sorry. I remember that now."
According to police, Raine claimed that he took the cart carrying the baby by mistake, thinking it was his own empty cart that he grabbed by the front and walked away with. He told police, "The next thing he knew, he was confronted by a woman, but he did not know how. The woman did not say anything to him, but he realized he took this woman's baby and grabbed the wrong cart."
Raine told police that he apologized profusely to the woman, saying, "I'm sorry, I'll never do that again." When police showed him the surveillance video, Raine said, "I was just so oblivious." He also said, "I guess, I, I don't know, I really must have been completely out of it."
He maintained that he apologized for making a mistake, not for allegedly kidnapping the woman's baby. Raine told police, "I can't undo that," and "Like, I won't ever make that kind of mistake again, just being so unaware of my surroundings that I rob somebody of their child for even just a few seconds."
Raine was charged with second-degree kidnapping and booked into the Bonneville County Jail on $15,000 bond. That amount was later reduced to $5,000 bond, which Raine posted and he was released on Friday. His next court date is scheduled for Dec. 10.
