Dandenong man charged after mum and baby allegedly kidnapped in Rowville last year

Police have charged a young Dandenong man who allegedly held a mother and her baby daughter hostage during an “incredibly traumatic” kidnapping in Rowville last year.

A man has been arrested after Kieren and her baby were allegedly held hostage during a terrifying ordeal in Rowville last year. Picture: Nilsson Jones

Police have charged a man who allegedly held a mother and her baby daughter hostage during an “incredibly traumatic” kidnapping last year.

Primary schoolteacher Kieren was with her six-month-old baby in Rowville when a man allegedly approached her in the Stud Park Shopping Centre supermarket on May 10, threatening her with a knife.

“He came from nowhere behind me with a knife and just said get in the car and drive and I just remember begging saying ‘I’ve got a daughter, you can have my car, my wallet and phone, just leave me with my daughter’,” Kieren said last year.

“He kept telling me to stop crying and to just breathe and I obviously couldn’t, I wasn’t the best driver in those moments and I was feeling really sick and my daughter would not stop crying in the back seat,” she said.

The man then allegedly forced the mother to drive him to several Dandenong electronic stores before he fled carrying four MacBooks.

Kieren and her then six-month-old baby were not injured during the ordeal.

Detective Senior Constable Jonathan Minehan from the Knox Crime Investigation Unit said Kieren remained brave during the entire incident and hoped the man’s arrest brought some comfort to her family and the community.

“This was an incredibly traumatic experience for the victim and her young child,” he said.

“The victim and her family have displayed incredible courage throughout this process.

“While these incidents are extremely rare, the emotional trauma they cause can be long-lasting. Our thoughts remain with the family.

Detectives charged a 25-year-old Dandenong man with five counts of kidnapping, three counts of armed robbery, aggravated carjacking, attempted armed robbery, handling stolen goods, and possessing prohibited weapons.

He was due to face the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday afternoon.