PUYALLUP, Wash. — A woman arrested for kidnapping a 3-year-old girl at a Puyallup hospital is scheduled for a competency evaluation to determine her ability to stand trial.
According to court documents, Sharie April Atkins, 45, is accused of kidnapping a little girl at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup on Monday afternoon.
Puyallup police said Atkins sat down in the emergency room lobby, near the 3-year-old child, her mother and her mom’s friend.
According to surveillance video KIRO 7 News obtained, Atkins snatches the child and walks around the lobby. Moments later, she grabs her purse and tries to get away with the child, as the mother and other witnesses jump in to save the child.
Detectives said the child suffered minor injuries, including red marks on her stomach and back, caused by Atkins squeezing her arms around the girl.
Atkins did not appear in court Tuesday as her defense attorney requested that her mental health be evaluated to see if she can stand trial.
Atkins was not given bail at the prosecutor’s request.
She has been charged with second-degree attempted kidnapping and second-degree assault.
We reached out to Good Samaritan Hospital, which shared the following statement with us:
“Tuesday afternoon around 1 p.m. security and emergency department staff at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital intervened in an alleged child abduction. The child was safely returned to their mother and the alleged abductor was arrested and removed from the hospital.
The safety of our employees and patients is our highest priority. We commend the members of our hospital staff who helped bring this situation to a quick and safe resolution.
MultiCare is working closely with local police as they continue their investigation.”
KIRO 7 News obtained court documents, which indicated that Atkins was involved in a prior incident in December of 2023, involving an axe.
Witnesses reported to Pierce County deputies that a woman had smashed their car and house windows with an axe.
“A huge axe. Had I came out three seconds earlier, I could have been hit with an axe,” said Skyler King, a neighbor.
King told KIRO 7 News that Atkins smashed the windows of his two vehicles, and tried breaking into his house while his family was inside preparing for dinner.
“She threw the axe from the sidewalk one handed, and threw it through the window, came and grabbed it and smashed out all the other windows,” he added. “The aftereffect was worse, knowing she lived a block and half behind us, literally right down the street.”
Across the street, a neighbor shared surveillance video with KIRO 7 News capturing the moment when a woman smashed their vehicle’s windshield with an axe, and pointed, what appeared to be a gun, at a nearby neighbor.
Pierce County detectives said they later found a lighter in the shape of a pistol during her arrest.
That same night, Puyallup police said Atkins also caused more than $5,000 worth of damage at a nearby elementary school using a metal bowl.
Atkins had been charged with attempted residential burglary and malicious mischief.
She was held at a hospital for 45 days where health professionals had determined that she met the criteria for schizophrenia.
She was later released on a $35,000 bail.
King told KIRO 7 News that had Atkins received more serious consequences last year, he believes Monday’s incident wouldn’t have happened.
“I don’t think it would’ve happened,” he said. “Something needed to have been done, whether it’d been probation, whether it’d been follow ups, or whether it’d been seeking mental help,” he shared.
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