49ers legend and Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana and his wife had to grab his baby granddaughter from the arms of an intruder in his home to prevent her from being kidnapped, according to a published report.
TMZ reported a 39-year-old woman allegedly walked into the Montanas’ house in Malibu through an unlocked door Saturday night and somehow grabbed his baby grandchild from a woman. While walking away with the infant, she was chased down in another part of the home by the 64-year-old Montana and his wife, Jennifer, wrestled to get their grandchild back.
It’s unclear who the woman was that was holding the Montana’s grandchild when she was snatched away. The Montanas’ grandchild was reportedly unharmed.
However, the woman who reportedly tried to take their grandchild ran out of the house. As fortune would have it for the Montanas, two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies were in the area at the time on a different call. TMZ reported a person inside the Montana’s home flagged down the deputies, who then found the woman intruder a few blocks away.
The unidentified woman was arrested on charges of kidnapping and burglary, according to TMZ. This news organization has reached out to the LA County Sheriff’s Office for more information.
The Montanas have four children, daughters Elizabeth and Alexandra, and sons Nate and Nick. It was not immediately clear which is the parent of the child.
More than 30 years ago, Montana and his wife were involved in another kidnapping case in the Bay Area. The FBI asked Montana to make a public plea to the kidnapper of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht of Hayward, who was abducted from a nearby shopping center parking lot.
“We thought this would be a very appropriate public figure that people would stop and listen to. He was extremely receptive to doing this,” FBI spokesman Chuck Latting said in 1988.
Montana and his wife made an emotional appeal in a taped television appearance, pleading for the girl’s safe return.
Back then, Montana said losing one of his two daughters to a kidnapper “just about brings tears to our eyes. To watch another parent going through that is just devastating to us. We just pray that it never happens to us and that, hopefully, these children will come back.?
Unfortunately, neither Garecht nor her abductor were ever found.
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