Man Accused Of Snatching Child At Southwest OKC Apartment

Oklahoma City police arrested a man accused of pulling a little girl into his apartment and locking the door.

Police were called August 20 to an apartment complex near S.W. 59th Street and Walker. A mother told police her 3-year-old daughter was walking past a neighbor's apartment when 24-year-old Joshua Martin grabbed the child, pulled her inside and locked the door behind him.

The woman screamed for her brother as another witness tried to force open the door. The child's uncle ran to the back patio door just as the witness forced open the front door. They all confronted Martin, who claimed the child had stepped on a drug needle, so he pulled her inside the apartment to help her. He then ran and locked himself inside a bedroom.

The girl was found just a few moments later, unharmed, outside the back patio door. Another witness told police he was sitting on the couch when Martin pulled the child inside the apartment and locked the door. He asked Martin what he was doing, which he said seemed to startle the suspect so much he dropped the little girl.

The witness again asked Martin what he was doing, and Martin replied the child hurt her foot and he was trying to help her. The witness said he went to the back door to let the child out, but Martin slammed the patio door shut and locked it. The witness said he forced the door open and the little girl walked out.

The witness told police he didn't see any injuries on the girl's foot. Police also looked at the child and did not see any evidence she stepped on a needle.

Police knocked on the bedroom door to speak to Martin. He refused to open the door, saying he didn't believe they were police officers. An officer said he could look at his badge, and when Martin opened the door, police forced their way inside and arrested him.

The woman who rents the apartment told police Martin doesn't live there, but he's an old school friend who sometimes stays with her. She said he had a problem with methamphetamine.

Martin was booked into Oklahoma County jail on a complaint of child stealing.