US Marshals Recover 2-Year-Old Girl Taken by Father After Shooting

A police car in a stock photo. Shutterstock

The U.S. Marshals recovered a 2-year-old girl taken by her father after officers shot and killed the man, officials said.

Ezmeralda Tineo was taken from Mesa, Arizona, by her biological father, who was identified as 39-year-old Esau Tineo. He does not have custodial rights over the toddler, said police.

The family of the girl said they were concerned about the girl’s safety as her father was acting erratically in recent days, according to police, reported ABC15.

The U.S. Marshals Task Force was searching for Esau Tineo last week on charges of kidnapping, misconduct involving weapons, aggravated assault, and stalking, the report said. Tineo had a violent criminal history, including robbery, weapons charges, and aggravated assault.

U.S Marshals said that Tineo “vowed to shoot it out with police” if he didn’t get to see his daughter, FOX10 reported. Authorities said that they tracked him down to a location on Sept. 18, but he allegedly sped away into oncoming traffic when they approached.

His family is claiming that police should not have killed him.

“If he doesn’t get the baby, like, he’s gonna kill himself and kill the baby too, which is like, completely false cause we had a conversation about suicide like four days ago and he said he really doesn’t get that,” his nephew, Danny, alleged.

But according to ABC15, officials said that when they tried to make contact with Tineo, they were unsuccessful. He drove around police cars, into oncoming traffic, and on the sidewalk.