Waynesboro cops nearly let girl get kidnapped, mom says

WAYNESBORO, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The Waynesboro Police Department isn’t saying much about an investigation of two officers’ actions, but the mother who filed the complaint is telling her side of the story.

Chundra Hendrix said her complaint stemmed from what could have become the kidnapping of her 7-year-old daughter. Hendrix said a stranger placed the girl in his car and tried to leave in plain view of police officers.

It happened soon after 8:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at the El Cheapo gas station on Liberty Street.

Hendrix’s husband was being arrested on a complaint of disorderly conduct, and while police were occupied with him, the stranger got the girl out of her dad’s truck and put her in his vehicle.

If not for the cries of the dad who was being arrested, the man might have gotten away with it, Hendrix says.

Hendrix says police stopped the man — but it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

MORE | Dead person found outside Waynesboro restaurant

Plus police didn’t get the stranger’s identity and even told him he wasn’t in trouble, Hendrix said.

News 12 has not seen a recording of the incident, but Hendrix has, and she says that’s how she knows what happened.

Soon after the incident, she asked to see the body-cam video and police report, and her request was granted.

Incident report shared by Chundra Hendrix(Chundra Hendrix)

All of that happened before the investigation was launched, an action that usually leads to a clampdown of information being released on a case, as evidenced by the chief investigator’s refusal to discuss the matter.

The department did release a terse statement on the case Thursday:

“There has been a complaint made against two officers with the Waynesboro Police Department in reference to the handling of a call with a juvenile present. The investigation is in the early stages, no information can be released at this time. When possible we will provide you with further information.”

What led up to the incident?

While Hendrix alleges the officers didn’t get the ID or information on the stranger, a dispute over her husband’s ID led up to his arrest.

According to the incident report, which Hendrix shared with News 12, her husband, Sam, had gone to the gas station around closing time. After buying some lottery tickets, he walked outside and then walked back in to buy some more, only to be told by the clerk that the store had closed.

The incident report says the husband used profanity at the clerk, leading to the call to police. Upon their arrival, officers asked for his ID, and he contended he wasn’t required to show it.

“I placed Mr. Hendrix under arrest and started to place him in handcuffs,” an officer wrote in the incident report.

MORE | Shooting victim found in the middle of Augusta roadway

The officer wrote that the dad placed his hands behind his back as asked but kept moving around.

“I instructed to stop which he did not,” the officer wrote. “I was able to finally place him in handcuffs and started walking him to my patrol vehicle at which time he stopped walking making myself and Sgt. Stroud to assist him to the patrol.”

Once he was placed in the patrol car, the dad noticed a man had taken his daughter out of his truck and placed her in his vehicle.

Notified by that dad, “I immediately went to the subject’s vehicle and stop him from leaving,” the officer wrote. “I asked the subject if he knew Mr. Hendrix which he stated that he did not. I then asked him if he knew the girl, once again he stated no. I asked the girl if she know the subject which she stated no.”

The officer then told the stranger to take the child out of his vehicle and place her back into her dad’s truck.

It was then that Chundra Hendrix showed up and got her daughter.

The officer claimed to have seen Sam Hendrix and the man speaking earlier, assuming they knew each other.

Incident fuels mom’s anger

The mom contends her husband was wrongly arrested, but when she talks about what she sees as the potential kidnapping of her daughter, that’s when her blood really starts to boil.

The entire incident is on body cam, she told News 12.

“My husband and I have tried and tried to get help with this issue. No one is being held able,” she said.

“I thought the police were here to protect and serve. Apparently this does not apply to the citizens of the city of Waynesboro.”

She said: “As a mother I am appalled that my husband was not allowed to call me to come get our little girl. I am even more appalled that the police officers on the scene did nothing to ensure she was safe.”