AUSTIN, Ind. – Police arrested a Scott County woman accused of kidnapping a student from an elementary school playground this week.
Brittany Hurtt, 34, was taken into custody on charges of kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, battery to a public safety official, criminal trespass, resisting law enforcement, public nudity and public indecency in connection with the Monday incident.
According to the probable cause affidavit, officers with the Austin Police Department were notified that a woman had taken an 8-year-old girl from the playground at Austin Elementary and headed north on Howard Street toward State Road 256.
Officers said Hurtt’s husband flagged them down; he had a little girl in the passenger seat of his car and said his wife, Brittany Hurtt, had shown up at their home on Mann Avenue with a child that wasn’t theirs. Her husband told police his wife took off her clothes and was running naked down the street.
One officer took the little girl back to school while another officer went to find Hurtt, who was “running in the street nude carrying two white trash bags,” according to court documents. Hurtt struck the officer’s vehicle and tried to “yank the door open,” police said. Officers placed her in handcuffs and struggled to get her into the back seat.
She kicked one officer in the chest and ignored orders to “stop kicking and yelling,” police said. Once officers got her inside the vehicle, she “began kicking the back windows” and “screaming,” according to court documents. She refused to put on the clothes her husband brought for her.
When police tried to move Hurtt from the car to a gurney so she could be taken to the emergency room for evaluation, she kicked an officer in the hand. She “was making statements about how the children were being taught by the computers and all the children needed to die,” according to court documents.
Hurtt later told police she knew she was under arrest “because she kidnapped a kid.” She was taken to the Scott County Jail after being cleared at the emergency room.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from the school. In it, Hurtt climbed over the fence to the playground, placed a child over the fence and climbed back over it. The two then took off running.
Police said Hurtt attempted to abduct two different children. The first one said Hurtt grabbed her wrist and said, “Let’s start a family.” The girl managed to get free and run away. Hurtt then went up to the second child, grabbed her hand and walked her to the fence. The girl said Hurtt lifted her over the fence and took off with her.
The school went on lockdown after the incident. Administrators wrote in a letter to parents that they’re “reassessing playground protocols to increase security and safety for students.” Counselors were also available for any students who wanted to talk about what happened.
Hurtt had an initial hearing Tuesday. She’s next due in court in February for a pretrial conference, according to court records.
