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Natalia Karia: Minneapolis Day Care Owner Tries To Hang Toddler, Causes Three Accidents As She Tries To Flee

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 20:55 PST, Nov 18, 2016

Day care centers are places where your child is supposed to be taken care of. These are places where you leave your kids in the care of usually trusty caretakers. However, for the parents of a 16-month-old baby boy from Minneapolis, their tryst with a day care center in Minneapolis was an experience straight from hell.

According to a report by local news station CBS Minnesota, a 16-month-old baby had a narrow escape from certain death after the child was allegedly hanged inside the daycare facility by a provider. The report adds that the little boy was found hanging inside the Uptown Daycare, located on the 2700 block of Humboldt Avenue South. The incident reportedly happened on Friday morning. The woman believed to be behind this incident was later identified as 42-year-old Natalia Mykhaylivna Karia who, according to officials, also owns the center.

According to investigating officers on the day of the incident, a parent of a child who had come to drop his ward off at the center saw the ghastly sight of the little toddler hanging by his neck. Officers went on to add that the visiting parent did not waste time and brought the toddler down – just in time and saved his life. This version of the events that happened at the day care center was confirmed by senior police officials from the city.

“A parent dropping off her child had removed the same toddler from the scene,” said Minneapolis Police Assistant Chief Kris Arneson.

Minutes after the baby was rescued, Natalia Mykhaylivna Karia sped away in her gold minivan. A panicked Natalia then reportedly hit a car. When the driver of the car came out of the vehicle to question her, Karia allegedly hit the man and ran over him. The unidentified man was also dragged along for several blocks. This incident was confirmed by officials after they received an emergency phone call that reported a hit and run accident.

“At 9:57, a 911 call came in that there was a hit-and-run accident at 28th and Grand Avenue South,” Arneson said.

Natalia was not done yet. Just minutes after she had run over the man, she hit an innocent bicyclist who happened to be cycling on the same road.

“At 9:59, a 911 call came in that the same vehicle hit a person on a bicycle on 28th and Park Avenue South,” Arneson added.

After this, she struck a third person who was identified as a 33-year-old pregnant woman, Nicole Thomas. Nicole was luckily inside her car and was taken to a hospital and released a few hours later. She described the incident as “scary.”

“It was scary. I’m better now, but I was shaken up all day. It was definitely crazy to be part of and to witness. I feel really lucky, given the circumstances, and I hope everyone else involved is OK.”

Natalia did not bother to stop even after these three incidents and continued speeding away. She was however not able to get too far away. Shortly after the hit and run incident, she reached a bridge and attempted to jump onto Interstate 94 that passed below it. She was, however, stopped from doing so by people on the scene who reportedly held her until police officials arrived on scene..

“There were citizens on the scene holding the person down so she could not jump. Minneapolis Police arrived shortly after that and joined in the struggle to prevent her from going over the edge onto the freeway.”

The entire incident happened over a span of just 13 minutes. By the end of it, Karia was in police custody.

Meanwhile, the conditions of the man she first hit remains serious. He reportedly suffered broken bones and scrapes. The bicyclist suffered a broken leg. Both the victims were taken to Hennepin County Medical Center. The child that was hanged by Karia is reportedly doing fine now.

Investigating officers are yet to come up with a clear motive behind Karia’s actions on the day. There were six other children inside the day care at the time of the incident, none of them were hurt.

[Featured Image By Shutterstock]

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