Inset: Joshua York (Greene County Jail). Background: Target in Springfield, Missouri, where York allegedly started following and later tried to kidnap a woman (Google Maps).
A man is behind bars after he spotted a "cute" woman at a Missouri Target and followed her home where he tried to kidnap her as she held her young son, authorities said.
Joshua York, 30, is accused of second-degree kidnapping, stalking and endangering the welfare of a child, according to court records. A probable cause arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime said the victim and her 2-year-old son entered the Target in Springfield around 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 15.
York was already in the store when he saw the woman and started following her, cops said. The victim checked out and got into her car before driving home. York allegedly followed her.
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The victim arrived and her complex and began taking groceries into her apartment as her son slept in the car. On her last trip, she grabbed her son and had a "feeling she should look behind her." That's when she spotted York who was allegedly "squatting behind a car parked next to her."
York started walking toward her and the victim yelled, "What are you doing?" the affidavit said. He then grabbed her and pulled her toward the parking lot, cops wrote. The woman said she started to scream "like a mad woman" and fought back while holding her son. He allegedly pushed her and her son to the ground before running away.
A witness who was driving in the parking lot heard a "bloody murder scream." She got out of her car to investigate and saw a man running from where the scream came from. She then saw the man hop into his SUV and speed off. A neighbor said he heard a scream and grabbed his gun before going outside to see what was going on, cops wrote. He saw the victim and her son on the ground. She pointed at the SUV that was fleeing the scene.
Surveillance video captured the license plate and the man who later stopped at a gas pump. He was wearing a shirt for JY Executive Auto Detailing, a business that he owns, per cops.
York was arrested on Thursday. In an interview with detectives, he allegedly claimed he was at Target and sparked a conversation with the victim, telling her "she was cute." He said the woman invited him to her apartment but once they arrived, she changed her mind and asked him to leave.
This upset York, who then demanded $20 from her. When she refused, she started screaming, York claimed. He then left.
Cops say York was previously accused of harassing an ex-girlfriend and was accused by another girlfriend of having a woman's underwear under his bed.
The suspect is in the Greene County Jail without bond.