A couple fights off attempted kidnapping suspect

Steven Bayse, 62, faces charges of kidnapping, evading arrest with a vehicle, and aggravated assault against a public servant. Carlos Ortiz of Crowley said his two-year-old daughter is the child Bayse allegedly tried to kidnap on Monday evening.

Ortiz said he was returning home Monday evening with his wife and child from the Walmart near their home on Lansman Drive when he noticed a blue truck following them. At first, Ortiz said he didn’t think much of it and thought it could potentially be a neighbor they didn’t recognize.

“That’s when we were like, ‘Okay. [The car] is turning with us.’ We start pulling in our driveway. The truck parked across the street,” Ortiz said.

His wife took the groceries inside the house, while their daughter began playing in the flower bed outside their house. Ortiz spoke with the suspect, who asked about Ortiz’s truck and whether he was interested in selling it.

Ortiz recalled the suspect and then asked about his daughter.

“He started seeing my daughter out in the front yard. He was like, oh that’s your daughter? I was like, ‘Yes. It is,’” he said. “He said, ‘She’s cute. That could be like my Shelby.’ That’s when I thought to myself, ‘Okay. He’s probably talking about a relative, daughter, granddaughter of his.’”