DA dismisses attempted kidnapping charge against Los Osos woman

San Luis Obispo County prosecutors on Wednesday dropped two felony charges against a Los Osos woman they initially accused of attempting to kidnap a 3-year-old boy from a Target store in San Luis Obispo, charging her instead with a misdemeanor.

Rosmary Osorio-Loaiza, 50, turned herself in to police after she was allegedly seen on store surveillance camera trying to take a child by the hand out of the store on April 18. The boy was not harmed, and Osorio-Loaiza left the store without incident after the child’s parent confronted her.

The District Attorney’s Office filed felony charges of attempted kidnapping and false imprisonment by violence, to which Osorio-Loaiza pleaded not guilty.

But at a pre-trial hearing Wednesday, Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy granted a motion by Deputy District Attorney Linda Dunn to dismiss both felony charges and move the case forward with a misdemeanor charge of battery.

Osorio-Loaiza faced about four years in state prison if convicted of both original felonies. If convicted of the misdemeanor, she faces a maximum of six months in County Jail.

Osorio-Loaiza, a Colombian citizen married to an American, does not speak English. She is currently out of custody after posting $50,000 bail.

Following Wednesday’s hearing, Osorio-Loaiza’s attorney, Ginger Ortiz, declined to provide more specifics about the case because it is ongoing. A spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case was forwarded to prosecutors by the San Luis Obispo Police Department, which asked for the public’s help in identifying Osorio-Loaiza after she left the Target store following the incident.

Though the department released a short clip of her walking out of the store, footage of the alleged crime has not been released to the public.

After the SLOPD announcement, Osorio-Loaiza physically went to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office substation in Los Osos to speak to a deputy regarding the incident. She then agreed to meet officers at police headquarters in SLO, where she was arrested and taken to San Luis Obispo County Jail.

She is due back in court for a trial setting conference Aug. 23.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct an error. Wednesday’s hearing occurred in Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy’s courtroom.

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This story was originally published August 15, 2018 at 2:28 PM.