4 Arizona children allegedly taken by noncustodial father found safe, Mesa Police say
MESA, Ariz. - Mesa Police Department officials say a search for four children who were allegedly taken by their father ended on a positive note.
According to a statement released on Feb. 6, the four children were identified as 14-year-old Devon Washington, 13-year-old Lashaun Washington, 10-year-old Tatiana Washington, and 8-year-old Dequan Washington. The children were taken by Devon M. Washington, according to police.
Washington, police say, did not have custody of the children, and the children were taken at around 11 a.m. on Feb. 5, during a supervised visitation at Bell Bank Park in Mesa.
"a. At around 11:00am the chaperone called police to report that Washington and the four children walked to the parking lot where they got into a white Toyota RAV4 with an Arizona license plate of N9A25H and left the park," officials said.
In a statement released by Det. Encinas on Feb. 8, a Toyota SUV that the children were last seen in was found at a fast food parking lot in El Paso by FBI agents there. The car was found after Mesa Police learned that Washington and the children were possibly in El Paso, and subsequently requested the assistance of FBI field offices in Phoenix and El Paso.
"Agents went inside the fast-food restaurant where they located both Washington and the four children," read a portion of the statement. "The children were unharmed and placed with Texas [Department of Children's Services] until they could be transferred back to Arizona [Department of Child Safety]."
Washington, according to Det. Encinas, was taken into custody. He is set to be extradited back to Arizona for alleged child abduction charges.