PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 5-year-old boy from Pontiac has been reunited with his mother after his father took him in the mother’s car and went out of state without permission last weekend, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies say on Feb. 2, the boy was with his parents in his mother’s car when they got into an argument. She went inside her home and the father, who does not have custody of the boy, took off in her car with their son.
The mother called the sheriff’s office, and her car was traced to Arkansas. Investigators believe he was taking the 5-year-old to Texas.
The father, Daniel Chibuike Ohno, 40, of Houston, Texas, had not been involved in his son’s life for years until a few months ago, investigators say. Because of that, there were concerns when he took the child.
Detectives with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office worked with police in Arkansas to locate the two. They were found driving on a freeway in Little Rock, Arkansas, more than 900 miles away. Ohno was arrested.
The mother flew to Little Rock the same day and was reunited with her son.
“There is nothing more important to us than keeping children safe,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement on Friday. “I couldn’t be happier about the teamwork between us and Arkansas State Police that led to a safe rescue of this child.”
Ohno is facing car theft charges in Pontiac and felony charges in Arkansas.
