PUEBLO – Parents Tuesday expressed their concern following a parental kidnapping that happened at Pueblo City Schools’ South Park Elementary. Pueblo Police say Chante Quintana, 25, made entry inside the building and removed her daughter, 6-year-old Zanilah Baros, in violation of a custody arrangement and building entry procedures. “All I told my son this morning was please be careful. Please,” said parent Maria Trujillo.
Pueblo City Schools is not revealing how Quintana was able to enter the school, but does say she “circumvented” normal procedures and protocols. In an additional statement to News 5 on Tuesday, spokesperson Dalton Sprouse said, “The doors at our schools are to be locked at all times requiring all visitors to gain access through one identified and secure location near the front office. Once inside the school, visitors are expected to check in at the front office where proper procedures will be followed.”
Trujillo says she has experienced instances where those procedures were not followed. “When I go to buzz that thing, they don’t know who I am. I’m buzzing in, they’re letting me in. Or sometimes the kids will even let me in. I’m like, ‘You don’t know me. I could have (stolen) you,'” Trujillo said. Another parent, Brett Williamson, believes this to be an isolated incident. “I do think it’s kind of a rogue circumstance here. I can see them tightening (security) up now, which I don’t blame them,” Williamson said. “I mean, they should, because if it did happen, then it could happen again.”
Williamson and other parents worry about side-door access directly to classrooms. “I can see that if anything happened, it came out of one of these side doors at a time it wasn’t supposed to,” Williamson said. Sprouse told News 5, “Our school district has already communicated with each school and has advised them to review, follow, and enforce our processes and procedures regarding proper visitor school entry and the release of students.”
Pueblo Police say Quintana faces charges of kidnapping and violation of a custody arrangement.
