Brantford, Ont., toddler found safe, 4 arrested, after brief Amber Alert

Four people have been arrested after police say an estranged Brantford, Ont., father abducted his two-year-old daughter by breaking down the door of her mother’s house.

A 37-year-old man was taken into custody and the child handed over to Hamilton police around 4 a.m. following a brief Amber Alert and about an hour of negotiation, police say.

“When the child was turned over to police, she was safe, uninjured and appeared to be unaware of the circumstances,” said Hamilton police Const. Jerome Stewart.

Police in Brantford say they received a 911 call about an abduction and assault at a home on Bisset Avenue just after midnight Thursday.

Investigators say a number of people knocked on the front door of the home and, when the mother answered, the estranged father broke in through a back door.

The woman confronted the father and was assaulted and threatened, suffering minor injuries, Brantford police said in a media release. Another person inside the home was also allegedly assaulted.

Investigators determined the suspects may have headed for the Hamilton area and contacted police there.

Officers checked a home on the west Mountain around 1 a.m. but didn’t find the girl or her father, says Stewart.

Meanwhile, Brantford police say they manged to identify and make contact with the man, but he allegedly refused to say where he was or to return the child, so an Amber Alert was issued.

Brantford police continuing to investigate

Hamilton police learned the group could be driving in a black Nissan. Stewart says officers stopped a vehicle matching the description around 2 a.m. and arrested three people believed to be involved in the abduction, but the girl and her father were still missing.

About an hour later, the father and toddler were found at a home on Upper Ottawa Street and police began communicating with him, according to Stewart.

“Just before four o’clock, he exited the residence, turned over the child and he was arrested by Hamilton police,” he said, adding the child was turned over to her mother.

Hamilton tactical officers entered the home after the father was arrested to search for evidence connected to the incident, says Stewart.

Brantford police say they’re continuing to investigate.