SIOUX FALLS, SD — A Sioux Falls woman is facing criminal charges after police say she approached children naked outside an apartment complex and asked whether they wanted to be kidnapped. Officers were called to the area near Second Street and Elmwood Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, after several 911 callers reported threatening behavior.
Police later identified the woman as 49-year-old Jackline Tingwa of Sioux Falls. Authorities said witnesses described a disturbing scene near a basketball court, and responding officers detained her at the location. No firearm was recovered, according to police.
Witnesses describe children running from the woman near a basketball court
Sgt. Aaron Benson said one person told police the woman was “terrorizing children” near the court. Another witness reported that she threatened children with a firearm, though officers said they did not find a gun in the area.
A fourth witness told police the woman asked several children if they would like to be kidnapped. That witness also saw children running away from her, Benson said. The accounts from callers and witnesses prompted a rapid response from officers to the apartment complex.
Police say a 2-year-old was grabbed before witnesses intervened
One witness told police the woman grabbed a 2-year-old child and tried to walk the child away from a group of friends. The witness said they stepped in and helped the child get away. Police said the child was no longer with the woman when officers arrived.
Authorities have not said what led up to the encounter or whether any of the children were physically injured. The arrests and witness statements focused on the immediate threat described by people at the scene, including the attempted removal of the toddler.
Tingwa was jailed without bond ahead of a Monday court appearance
After officers detained Tingwa, she was taken to the Minnehaha County Jail and held without bond pending a Monday court appearance. Police said the arrest was based on suspicion of child abuse, second-degree kidnapping, indecent exposure involving a minor victim, enticement of a child and disorderly conduct.
The case moved quickly into the court system, but prosecutors had not filed the full list of potential accusations by Monday afternoon. The charges can change as the case develops and investigators continue to review the witnesses’ accounts.
Prosecutors filed two charges by Monday afternoon
By Monday afternoon, prosecutors had formally charged Tingwa with sexual exploitation of a minor and disorderly conduct by excessive noise. Those charges came after police said they responded to multiple emergency calls from the apartment complex and gathered statements from several witnesses.
Benson said more charges are possible later. The investigation appears to remain active as authorities assess the allegations, including the reported attempt to take a child and the claims that the woman was naked while confronting children outside the complex.
What Sioux Falls police say happened in the first minutes of the call
The first reports reached police around 7 p.m., when callers said a naked woman was threatening and terrorizing children outside the apartments. Officers arrived to find a scene that witnesses said involved children fleeing and adults trying to protect them.
Police have not said whether the incident was connected to any prior dispute or what may have caused the woman to be at the complex. For now, the case centers on the witness accounts, the response by Sioux Falls officers and the charges already filed in Minnehaha County court.