CT woman facing kidnapping, custodial interference charges for allegedly fleeing state with child

A Waterbury woman was arrested on Friday on kidnapping and custodial interference charges after allegedly taking a child during a domestic violence incident in Tolland over the summer and fleeing to Puerto Rico.

Allana Polk, 26, was taken into custody in Waterbury and held on a $350,000 bond, according to Connecticut State Police .

State police said she was expected to appear in Rockville Superior Court later in the day to answer to charges of second-degree kidnapping and first-degree custodial interference.

According to the warrant affidavit supporting Polk’s arrest, she was initially arrested on July 25 in Tolland when she allegedly entered someone’s residence without permission and “forcibly” took a child before fleeing into the backseat of a waiting vehicle. The victim in that case chased Polk to the vehicle and tried to get the child, but Polk instructed the person in the driver seat to speed away, the warrant affidavit said.

The man was dragged by the vehicle and suffered minor injuries, according to the warrant affidavit.

Polk was later arrested by state police on charges of risk of injury to a child and disorderly conduct. She was released from custody.

According to the warrant affidavit, the victim went to state police investigators on Saturday and said he has not been able to locate the child since the incident in July. The man said Polk was served an ex-parte order from family court days after her initial arrest before he was granted full custody of the boy in August, the warrant affidavit said.

During a court appearance on Sept. 13, the man said Polk gave court officials a new address that came back to a P.O. Box in Puerto Rico, where he suspected she may have been living, according to the warrant affidavit.

“I have full custody of (the victim) and want him back,” the man told police in a statement.

Troopers contacted staff at Rockville Superior Court on Wednesday and inquired whether Polk was present for her scheduled court proceeding in connection with the July arrest. Staff told state police that she did not show for the hearing and was ordered by a judge to be re-arrested and charged with failure to appear, the warrant affidavit said. The bond set on the failure to appear warrant was $25,000.

Courthouse staff also told a trooper that they had spoken to Polk, who reported not having enough money to travel back and forth between Puerto Rico and Connecticut for her court appearances, according to the warrant affidavit.

On Thursday, state police received a call from staff at the Rockville Family Court who reported that Polk was at the courthouse, the warrant affidavit said. Troopers responded to the courthouse and asked Polk why she had not returned any of their calls. Polk told investigators she did not want to talk without a lawyer, the warrant affidavit said.

Polk was taken into custody just before 11:40 a.m. and charged with failure to appear, state police wrote in the warrant affidavit. While she was being booked, Polk reportedly told a trooper that she had taken the child back to Puerto Rico following her arrest in July and was working at a hospital there, according to the warrant affidavit.