Ojai Man Held on Suspicion of Abducting 2-Year-Old Son

An Ojai man was arrested Friday on suspicion of breaking into his former girlfriend’s home and abducting their 2-year-old son.

Ventura police say William Reed, 27, cut the telephone lines at the apartment of Melissa Sansosti on Sidonia Avenue and climbed through the window to abduct their boy.

“He told her he was taking the baby and asked her to leave the state with him,” Officer Bill Bogner said. “She said no, and he left . . .”

Reed, 27, was later captured and the child was returned to his mother unharmed. Reed is scheduled to be arraigned in Ventura County Municipal Court on Monday on a variety of charges, including several from prior incidents. He remains in Ventura County Jail on $250,000 bail, police said.

He faces new charges of child abduction, vehicle theft, burglary, severing phone lines and violation of court orders following Friday’s incident, according to police.

The arrest was the latest in a series of legal problems for Reed, who police said is unemployed.

A warrant was issued against Reed last week for $250,000 bail on prior charges of burglary, threats, firing at an inhabited dwelling and spousal battery, police records show.

Reed has at least one prior arrest for violation of a restraining order, Bogner said.

“He has assaulted [Sansosti] before,” Bogner said.

Reed used to live with Sansosti but has lived with his parents in Ojai since he and Sansosti broke up, Bogner said.

After the incident Friday, Sansosti phoned police from a neighbor’s house at 8:42 a.m., Bogner said.

“She was quite emotionally upset,” he said. “She certainly is afraid of him.”

Reed fled in a Honda station wagon that had been stolen from the Lompoc area last week, according to police records.

Police located the vehicle at 9 a.m. on Comstock Drive in western Ventura, in front of the home of an acquaintance of Reed’s, Bogner said.

Police learned from the acquaintance that Reed received a ride to his sister’s home on Floral Drive from the friend.

“We located information while searching the residence that led us to his sister’s address,” Bogner said.

Police arrested Reed there at 10:04 a.m., according to police.

Neither the acquaintance nor Reed’s sister are in legal trouble as a result of Reed’s alleged actions, Bogner said.

“[The acquaintance] didn’t know what was going on here,” Bogner said. “He was an unsuspecting pawn.”