Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- BYU-Idaho student Michael Garrison Raine is charged with kidnapping a 4-week-old baby.
- The incident occurred at an Idaho Falls Costco; mother Natalie Millett reported the theft.
- Raine allegedly took the cart with the baby; public reaction was significant.
IDAHO FALLS — A 24-year-old man has been charged following social media outrage after a woman posted about him allegedly stealing her shopping cart with her newborn baby inside at the Idaho Falls Costco.
Michael Garrison Raine, from California, is charged with felony second-degree kidnapping.
According to a police booking affidavit, Natalie Millett called the Idaho Falls Police Department on Thursday, Nov. 20, to report that a man had stolen her shopping cart at Costco with her 4-week-old infant inside.
She also posted about the incident on Facebook, garnering thousands of reactions and comments.
Because of the popularity of the post, locals have expressed concern and outrage over multiple details of the case, with many concerned that Raine is out on bail, and others calling it a hoax.
In a recent Facebook update, Millett says she and her family are "currently working with (Idaho Falls police) and the prosecutor to determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to court."
The allegations
Court documents state that Millett spoke with investigators on Nov. 25, stating that she arrived at Costco about 10:30 a.m. with her baby and adult sister. The baby was inside a car seat in the "deep part of the shopping cart."
According to police reports, "It was very clear that the child's car seat was completely visible because it was large and was protruding above the top portion of the cart." After about 15 minutes of shopping, Millett says she walked over to the book section with the shopping cart slightly behind her, but still within arm's reach.
She then noticed a man "lingering in the book section" but continued looking at the books, grabbing one to read the back.
Millett told detectives she "had a weird feeling to look at her cart" and realized it, along with the baby, was gone. She said she started looking and found the cart and her baby a couple of aisles over in the snack aisle, being pushed away from her by a man in his 20s or 30s.
Millett described the man as an "average build, a few inches taller than her (the woman is 5-foot-3), with dark hair poking out of his hat, wearing a light-colored jacket and jeans."
She told detectives that he was possibly of Middle Eastern descent. Millett grabbed the cart from the man, and he reportedly began apologizing, saying, "I'll never do that again, I promise."
Investigators say she described feeling as though the man was "trying to get her not to make a scene." The woman then hurried away and went to find her sister. Officers later obtained video footage, which reportedly showed the man entering the store around 10:20 a.m. with an empty shopping cart.
At 10:40 a.m., he is reportedly seen walking around the book area without a cart, and appearing to "be looking around at people and also examining books."
Millett eventually wanders into the same aisle as the man, who police say "opened a book, brought the opened book up to his nose, then appeared to sniff the center pages of the book very closely." He then reportedly put the book away and walked near Millett and her baby.
Police reports state that he "walked to the end of the aisle, which only had him and (Millett and her baby) in it," and then looked around before he "grabbed the front end of the cart and spun it around behind her."
The man then pushed the cart away from Millett and walked down the aisles behind the book area. Millett quickly realized the cart was gone, searched for it and the baby, found the cart, took it back, then walked away.
According to court documents, "the suspect follows (Millett) and tries talking to her as she walks away." The man then went to a self-check register and used a Costco membership account that did not belong to him to check out and buy food at the food court. He sat down to eat before leaving.
Officers were able to track the address on the Costco membership to an apartment building in Rexburg that houses male BYU-Idaho students. The owner of the membership was determined to be a roommate of the suspect.
Investigators then identified the suspect as Raine due to his Facebook account, BYU-Idaho student profile, and resemblance to the man in the Costco surveillance video.
EastIdahoNews.com confirmed with BYU-Idaho public affairs director Brett Crandall that Raine is currently enrolled at the school.
Using the license plate from parking lot security footage at Costco, police used a license plate reader to track Raine's car to the Marine Corps parking lot in Idaho Falls.
Police detectives went there and found the car in the parking lot with a Costco receipt in plain view.
Detectives spoke with staff from the United States Marine Corps Recruiting Station on Nov. 25, who said Raine had visited their office on Nov. 20 — a few hours after the Costco incident — to speak with a recruiter and to go to the Military Entrance Processing Station in Boise.
He then left the station with two men in a different car to go to Boise. According to court documents, Raine had failed out of the processing station due to "being disqualified for psychological reasons."
