A Florida woman has been arrested and charged after being accused of posing as an immigration officer to kidnap her ex-boyfriend’s wife at work, according to authorities.
Latrance Battle, 52, was arrested on April 11 after she was accused of impersonating a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer while wearing a shirt with “ICE” written across it and carrying a handheld radio.
On April 10, Battle entered a hotel in the Florida Panhandle and the worker asked if she needed a room, according to the Miami Herald, which has viewed the arrest affidavit. (Global News has not independently viewed the arrest affidavit.)
Battle reportedly told the worker she was there to “pick her up” and unzipped her jacket to reveal the shirt with ICE printed on the front. She also presented a business card appearing to show she worked for a sheriff’s office.
The woman contacted her boss and went with Battle after believing she was a real agent with ICE, deputies said.
According to a news release by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, officers said they responded to a call after a victim claimed she was kidnapped on April 10.
“After further investigation, it was determined the suspect, Latrance Battle came to the victim’s place of employment and identified herself as an ‘ICE’ agent,” police said in the release posted on Facebook. “Latrance instructed the victim that she had to go with her. Due to being in fear, the victim got in the vehicle and went willingly with Latrance.”
Police said the victim confirmed that she “genuinely felt” that Battle was an ICE agent at the time of the incident and that she was in the process of becoming a legal United States resident.
“As they were in the car, traveling to their destination, Latrance forcefully snatched the victim’s phone from her as she was trying to contact her lawyer and husband,” police said.
The kidnapped woman alleged that Battle made comments about how she “now has to suffer the consequences of her husband’s actions.”
“After they arrived at the Bridge Plaza apartment complex, the victim suspected something was wrong because Latrance told the victim they were going to the Sheriff’s Office. As Latrance went inside the apartment, the victim fled and called law enforcement,” police said in the release.
The victim’s husband said Battle had shown up at his work two years prior and “attacked him,” which led to him filing a restraining order against her.
Police located Battle in Fountain, Fla., while she was on her way to Alabama, and shared body camera footage of deputies arresting her in the news release shared on Facebook. Officers approached Battle’s car and asked her to open the door multiple times. The deputy eventually opened Battle’s door and she got out of the vehicle with her hands up.
She was arrested and charged with kidnapping in the commission of a felony, robbery by sudden snatching, impersonating a law enforcement officer in the commission of a felony and felony violation of probation.