SAN ANTONIO – The woman accused of taking her 6-year-old grandson days ago from an East Side home has been arrested.
Sarah Tremillo, 46, has been charged with kidnapping and possession of marijuana, according to Bexar County Central Magistrate records.
San Antonio police confirmed Tremillo was arrested by police officers without incident Thursday morning in the 1800 block of West Cesar Chavez.
Police said Tremillo took Joel Jimenez on Sunday despite not having custody of the child.
An affidavit stated Joel was with his grandfather in the front yard of the home when Tremillo arrived unexpectedly. The grandfather is Tremillo's ex-husband.
The two began to argue and the grandfather became distracted. That's when Tremillo drove away with the child, the affidavit said.
The boy's mother told police she feared for her son's safety and had not seen Tremillo in months.
She also said she received an anonymous Facebook message saying the boy had died from an overdose, the affidavit stated.
A warrant was issued for Tremillo's arrest. She returned Joel to his family on Wednesday, but drove away.
The family spoke to KSAT after Joel returned and said seeing him was a big relief for them.
“I opened the door, (Tremillo) pushed him in and threw a bag of clothes and took off,” said Reynaldo Enrique, Joel’s grandfather. “I don’t see him traumatized, but he told me he told her, ‘I wanna come home already.’ And she said ‘Tomorrow,’ and it's been three days already.”
The family said police told them Tremillo was using her grandson as a pawn to get help from organizations, such as the Salvation Army.
According to the affidavit, Tremillo has been arrested for assaults and narcotics in the past.
Tremillo was taken into custody just before 10 a.m. Thursday, records showed.