OAKLAND — A woman who allegedly brandished a knife at a mother and yelled “give me your kid” has been sentenced to probation and mandatory mental healthcare as part of a plea deal with Alameda County prosecutors, court records show.
Barbara Lopez, 35, pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon — a charge that can apply to people who brandish weapons at others — in exchange for prosecutors dropping an attempted kidnapping charge against her. On Sept. 19, she was formally sentenced to two years probation and ordered to continue with her mental healthcare program, court records show.
Lopez was charged last March after she allegedly accosted a Hayward resident who was walking with her 4-year-old son and brandished a pocketknife at the woman. The victim was able to flag down a passing motorist, who simply stopped and gave the woman a ride out of there. Lopez was arrested after police identified her as the suspect and searched the area for her.
Almost immediately after Lopez was charged, criminal proceedings were suspended. That’s because her attorney openly doubted Lopez’s mental competence for trial. At Lopez’s change of plea hearing, her attorney said Lopez was declared incompetent, but that the case resumed once she was treated for mental illness.
Deputy District Attorney Matt Gaidos, who prosecuted the case, described the incident as “kind of an odd, almost attempted kidnapping of a random child that is due to some either drug or mental health issue.” No one was injured during the incident, authorities say.
Woman gets probation, mental health treatment in attempted child abduction at knifepoint
