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PRIMETIME JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Tennessee Teacher and Pupil Still on the Run; Possible Break in Murder of Indiana Teen Girls; Suspected Shoplifter Stopped; Child at Day Care Sent Home With Wrong Parent; Overdosed Parents Found Dead; Police Use Force Caught On Tape. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired March 20, 2017 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[20:00:01] ANTHONY THOMAS, FATHER OF POSSIBLY ABDUCTED GIRL: He stole my daughter from me.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): A father on edge, his daughter missing with her teacher for a week.

JILL CUMMINS, TEACHER`S WIFE: I had no idea my husband was involved. If anything, this has led to all of this.

BANFIELD: A wife pleading for her husband to turn himself in.

CUMMINS: My heart breaks for the family of Beth Thomas.

BANFIELD: A nationwide manhunt lands Tad Cummins on a most wanted list as he`s spotted in a Walmart near the hair dye.

The jury decides in the case against War Machine, 34 charges, including attempted murder.

CHRISTY MACK, VICTIM: He looks at me and he says, Now I have to kill you.

BANFIELD: His lawyer argued the porn star ex welcomed this beating and skyrocketed to fame. But did the jury buy it?

Showdown, a Rite-Aid employee stops a suspected shoplifter in her tracks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re shoplifting. You can`t shoplift here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes? Why not?

BANFIELD: You heard right. She said, "Why not?"

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re not going anywhere. You`re shoplifting. Stay right here.

BANFIELD: A hero stands his ground until the officers tell her why not.

A potential break in the case of two Indiana teens murdered in the woods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel we had enough and the prosecutor felt we had enough. to get a search warrant.

BANFIELD: This man, who showed us around his property where the girls` bodies were found.

RONALD LOGAN, PROPERTY OWNER: It`s really been difficult to understand that two little girls lost their lives in my back yard.

BANFIELD: Now he is being held, his property being searched.

LOGAN: If I had any idea who it was, I would have certainly said so.

BANFIELD: But is he the man in the ominous picture?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody has taken my daughter!

BANFIELD: A mom`s frantic call to 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said somebody gave them an ID and said that I approved her -- to pick her up, and I didn`t!

BANFIELD: A day care hands her 4-year-old to a stranger. And mom says that wasn`t the only screwup.

A pilot and his beautiful wife found dead in their bedroom by their four kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing shocks me anymore.

BANFIELD: But this was no murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s most probably going to be a fentanyl, heroin- fentanyl-related death.

BANFIELD: The news faces of a deadly epidemic. It is everywhere in America. But could this pilot have been flying your plane?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Holly`s (ph) employment has also drawn a lot of attention to it.

BANFIELD: A woman in a violent fight with the police, a baby caught in the middle until police finally do this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

BANFIELD: Why officers say they had no choice and what witnesses say she was doing to the baby before the cameras were rolling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.

It is about that time of night that most high school freshmen are finishing up homework and gearing down for the night. But not Elizabeth Thomas.

Elizabeth is with her teacher tonight, and it has nothing to do with school. She vanished with him exactly one week ago, and there are new

worries tonight that they have gone deep underground.

That teacher is 50-year-old Tad Cummins, who was fired the day the pair took off. Police say he is dangerous and that he could be in possession of

at least two guns. He is also on the most wanted list. Agents released a new image of Elizabeth taken not long before she was seen being dropped off

at a restaurant a week ago, and they are hoping that someone will spot her.

And here`s Tad Cummins that same morning, last Monday, captured on surveillance filling up with gas right nearby. Several more images of Tad

Cummins have been released, taken the week before he and Elizabeth disappeared.

And in a twist in this investigation, in one of those pictures where he`s seen at a Walmart, you guessed it, he`s in the aisle that sells hair dye.

Cummins was being investigated after a student reported seeing him kissing Elizabeth, just 15 years old, in a classroom. Cummins`s wife is pleading

for him to just come home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL CUMMINS, TEACHER`S WIFE: Tad, this is not you. This is not who you are. We can help you get through this. No matter how far you`ve gone or

what`s happening right now, God`s grace is sufficient for you, and he wants you to come home. Your family wants their poppy back. Please do the right

thing and turn yourself in to the police and bring Beth home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:05:12]BANFIELD: Elizabeth`s father, Anthony Thomas, says he is not giving up hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY THOMAS, ELIZABETH`S FATHER: Every minute, you just hope that you`re going to find her alive. We all love you very much, and we miss

you. The house is not the same without you here. We just don`t want to go on without you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Josh Devine is the PIO of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations and he joins me live from Nashville tonight. Josh, thanks for being with

me. Let me ask you right away. It was so surprising seeing Jill Cummins, the wife of Tad Cummins, making that public plea for him to come home. How

helpful has she been to you in your work at trying to figure out where he might be next?

JOSH DEVINE, TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS: Extremely helpful, Ashleigh. She has really been a pillar of strength, and as you can

imagine, this has just been impossibly difficult. She has helped us to try to understand more about the relationship between him and this student as

we`ve been trying to work so quickly to try to bring her home.

BANFIELD: So Josh, we were just showing those pictures of Tad Cummins in the Walmart. He was right there in the aisle where they sell hair dye.

That can`t bode well for how difficult it`s going to be to spot him. Do you have other investigation about what he was buying there? And do you

think he was buying things in preparation for disappearing with Elizabeth?

DEVINE: We honestly just don`t know at this point. We have not disclosed publicly what he was purchasing there at the Walmart because we`re still

tracing some possible investigative leads on that front. We honestly, at this point, don`t even know if that was just an innocent Walmart trip, you

know, normal errands, or if this was part of his effort to prepare for all of this.

BANFIELD: There were two posts that were released the day that they disappeared. We`re learning about them night (ph) -- tonight. From

Elizabeth, a very cryptic post in Instagram, saying, "Every beauty needs her beast to protect her from everything but him."

And then he had a post, as well, saying, "Good morning, all. This is going to be an amazing day. Let`s do this."

So here our audience can see Elizabeth`s post. That`s what she sent out on Instagram before she disappeared. And here is Tad Devine`s (sic) post.

Were you able to find out anything in addition by getting these Instagram posts? Were you able to track them any further, learn anything more about

where they posted from?

DEVINE: Well, we have not really been discussing publicly a lot of these specific things that people have been noticing, for the simple fact that

we`re still hoping to use some of these things in an effort to try to track them down.

But I think what you`re hinting at is really an important point here, Ashleigh. She may very well not know that she`s a victim in all of this.

And so our message to her tonight is, You are a victim. You`re 15 years old. He`s 50. We are going to do everything we can to bring you home

because that is what your family wants and that is what your community wants.

BANFIELD: He taught her forensics, apparently, which also doesn`t bode well. If you think of a teacher who knows forensics inside and out, and

you`re looking for a trace of him, it makes it difficult.

I know that you`re asking everyone who`s watching tonight, everyone across the country, not knowing now how far away these two could be, to look in

their rural properties, to look at campgrounds and parks with a brand-new Prism (ph). And then also to look at parking lots and garages, thinking

that they might be sleeping in a car.

But isn`t it true that he was also sort of boning up with a lot of survivalist television before he disappeared and that he might be using

those skills right now?

DEVINE: Quite possibly. We`ve been trying to develop a full profile of what his hobbies and what his interests are as part of our effort to sort

of trace down anything that might potentially be relevant.

Today what we did, as you mentioned, was to cast as wide a net as possible. We want people to look at their property. We want property owners, if

they`ve got a garage on their property, to look there and see if they spot the vehicle. Maybe they`re in the vehicle or maybe they`re not. If

they`re no longer in that Nissan Rogue that we`ve been talking about for a week now, we really need to know that so we can start talking about

something else that people should be on the lookout for.

BANFIELD: I want to bring in Elizabeth`s father, Anthony Thomas, and his attorney, Jason Whatley, who join me now from Colombia, Tennessee.

Anthony, thank you so such for being with me. I really appreciate this. Jason, thank you, as well.

Anthony, if I can begin with you, how are you doing tonight now that you are one week into the search for your daughter?

THOMAS: We won`t be doing well at all until we get her back.

BANFIELD: Understandable. How much information are you getting from the authorities in their efforts to find her?

THOMAS: They share with me every new thing they get.

BANFIELD: And is that a lot in your estimation?

THOMAS: Well, they`re not satisfied with the amount of information they`re getting themselves. And of course, from my standpoint, I can never seem,

you know, to get enough until we`ve got something that directly -- directly gets us to her.

[20:10:02]I mean, they`re working around the clock. They contacted me at least a few times a day. They`ve been over at my house. They`re working

as hard as they can on this. I`m very pleased...

BANFIELD: Anthony, no contact -- no contact from Elizabeth, though, right, not a word for a whole week?

THOMAS: Not a word. We haven`t heard a thing from her.

BANFIELD: Can I ask you, what was happening just before she disappeared? What was her demeanor? Had she said anything? Had you had discussions

about her teacher? Had you any inclination at all that she might have decided to make this trip, understanding she`s 15 and this is not voluntary

when you`re 15? Did you have any suspicions that she was up to something?

THOMAS: I had a suspicion that something was going on a few days before, but she had not mentioned him in quite a while because of the situation.

Something went on the previous week, where, you know, she -- someone had (INAUDIBLE) a friend of hers had to give her a ride to school. I thought

something was going on then, but I could not figure out what it was.

BANFIELD: Did she pack any bags? Did she take anything from her room? Is anything missing that indicates to you this was a permanent decision?

THOMAS: Well, we can`t disclose a lot of that because a lot of that, they`re still working on, law enforcement is still working on. But some of

the things that she did and did not take are very confusing.

BANFIELD: Is there anything you can tell us about?

THOMAS: Well, I mean, just it -- not without going into things that are...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

THOMAS: They`re asking me what she took with her and what she didn`t and some of these things, I can`t tell. I can`t really...

JASON WHATLEY, THOMAS ATTORNEY: I think we need to leave that to law enforcement.

BANFIELD: So Jason, if that`s you, Jason Whatley, as Anthony`s attorney, I can understand that you have to be very careful in what you say, as the

most important thing here is getting Elizabeth home.

To that end -- and I do want to speak to you about the legal issue here -- that school had a report from a student that that teacher was seen kissing

Elizabeth. And that was two months ago. There was an investigation, but he wasn`t fired until the day after they disappeared.

I`m wondering what you`re doing on the legal side, in terms of a lawsuit against the district, against the school, against anyone who you feel may

have been able to preempt this?

WHATLEY: Well, we want to be very clear that our focus is absolutely on getting Elizabeth back, getting her back safe. Yes, there are legal

issues. Yes, there are questions, a lot of unanswered questions, a lot of outrage, quite frankly. But that`s really not our focus right now. Our

focus is on helping the family get this child back and have her safely back. And at that point, we`re looking at everything.

BANFIELD: Understand.

WHATLEY: But that`s really not something that we`re focused on.

BANFIELD: Understand. Well, I do appreciate both of you speaking with us tonight. We`d like to continue watching this story with you, and the best

of luck as they continue to put together the tips. So far, 250 to 300 tips. And police say that is shockingly low.

So please, if you`re watching tonight and you have rural property, take a look around. If you`re in Tennessee, without question. Surrounding

states, absolutely. But the tips have come in from California to New York. So all across the country, they need your help tonight.

I have other news I want to report. We`ve got a verdict now that`s been reached in the War Machine trial. You know, War Machine, his legal name,

the former mixed martial arts star? He`s been found guilty on 29 of the 34 counts against him, ranging from domestic violence to sexual assault and

kidnapping. But the jury ended up hung on two of the most serious charges that he faced, the two counts of attempted murder.

I want to show you now the scene in the courtroom when it was announced that the jury couldn`t reach a verdict on one of those counts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Count 26, attempted murder with the use of a deadly weapon, August 8th, Christine. There`s no response to count 26.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Not so sure I`d be smiling if I were War Machine, but he sure does look pleased to have beaten the attempted murder rap, beaten being the

operative word here because he wasn`t found not guilty on that. He was on trial for brutally attacking his porn star ex-girlfriend back in 2014 after

finding her in bed with another man.

And you can see some of the photographs that we had of the apparent injuries that she suffered. It was an extraordinary beating -- not these

photographs, the photographs that we were showing of her injuries that she had suffered at the hands -- those photographs. That was featured heavily

at trial. And it only took two days of deliberations for the jury to make their decisions. And so if War Machine was smiling, he should probably

wipe the smirk off his face because he still could face life in prison. And that sentencing decision and the announcement will come in June. Good

luck.

[20:15:04]For five weeks now, investigators have looked into thousands of tips and they`ve interviewed hundreds of people. But so far, they`re

really not saying much about the murders of two Indiana teenagers. Now, however, what could be a break in that case. A search warrant has been

served at the home of this man. This is the man who owns the land where the girls` bodies were found.

And that is not the only piece of news about this man. You`re going to find out what else he`s facing right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A potential break in the case of the murders of two teenagers in Indiana. You know those girls who were out hiking? Well, the

investigators have now served a search warrant, and it`s for some buildings and a home on the property where the bodies of those girls were found.

A 77-year-old land owner, seen here speaking with us, actually just after it happened. Well, he has also been brought in, and he`s been sitting in

jail for more than a week. A lot of questions as to why, and we`re going to have some answers for you in a moment.

But then there`s also this story about a mother who goes to pick up her children from Pathways, a day care. It`s just that one of her children is

not there. The workers gave the 4-year-old to someone else. And when you hear how this played out, it will leave you shaking your head.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

911 OPERATOR: I understand you. I understand completely.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: For five weeks now, police have been desperately sifting through thousands of tips trying to find out who killed two young girls who were

out for an afternoon walk in the woods.

[20:21:08]And tonight, there just might be a break in the case because they`ve executed a search warrant and they have someone behind bars. I`m

going to have more on that in a second.

But there are still a lot of questions, in fact, a lot more questions than answers about who killed Abigail Williams and Liberty German and then

dumped them on that rural property. Those girls vanished February 13th, their bodies found the next day.

Police released this image from Liberty`s cellphone That`s their prime suspect in the case. Take a good close look, a very, very close look,

especially at the face. And then an audio file, as well, from the phone, and the voice could be the man in the photo. Just three words on it, "Down

the hill." Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Back to the property where Abby and Libby were found. It`s a vast property, 40 acres, owned by this man, Ronald Logan. And as it turns

out, he is now the man that police are holding. It is on a probation violation. It is not on the disappearance or murder of these girls. But

the search warrant is for the buildings on his property. It was less than a week after the murders that this man, 77 years old, us on a tour, showed

our producers the actual area where the girls` bodies were found. And then he also told us about how he had heard about the crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD LOGAN, PROPERTY OWNER: I did not find out about it until (INAUDIBLE) until after about 6:30 PM in the afternoon. People stopped

here and asked for permission to go back on my property and said two girls were missing. And that`s the first I heard about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Logan`s home has now been searched. So has his farm and other buildings on the property that had not been searched before. And during

that 10-hour operation, police say they did remove evidence that they are analyzing. Ronald Logan is right now being held. Again, it is on a

probation violation for a prior DUI, not for the murders. But here`s what`s weird. He`s being held without bond.

While you ponder that, Sergeant Kim Riley is with the Indiana State Police, and he joins me live from Delphi, Indiana. Sergeant Riley, thanks so much

for being with us. Can you tell me why it is that he`s being held. Why Ronald Logan is being held without bond on a DUI probation violation. It

seems odd to me.

SGT. KIM RILEY, INDIANA STATE POLICE (via telephone): Well, on a DWI violation, probation violation in the state of Indiana, they have a -- they

can decide how long they can hold a person. And a Carroll County judge had decided that anybody that is arrested for a probation violation can be held

up to 15 days before they can -- before they have to go in front of a judge.

So that`s what`s going on with Mr. Logan. He`s being held -- he actually was supposed to have a hearing this morning, and from what I understand,

his attorney had to change the date. So I do not have an update on that.

BANFIELD: OK. So I`m not -- I won`t jump in and read anything into it, then. But I want to ask you, Sergeant Riley, that 13 people I think in

total have been arrested during this investigation, and then those arrests were like Mr. Logan, unrelated to the crime.. It was for something else

that was discovered sort of along the way in the investigation. Were any others held without bond?

RILEY: That I am not aware of. I know most of them were on warrants, and usually with a warrant, there is always a bond. So if it`s a warrant

situation, probably they were held long enough to get the bond money and then they were released.

BANFIELD: So can I ask you, did Mr. Logan give you an alibi or tell you where he was at the time those girls disappeared and ultimately found dead?

RILEY: Well, I can`t really go into that because it could compromise the investigation at this point in time still.

[20:25:02]BANFIELD: OK. I understand that. I want to play for you what he told us, though, about what appeared to be an alibi. Look, when you

tell a reporter, it`s not officially an alibi because (INAUDIBLE) You`re not really on the record with the law. But it`s interesting nonetheless.

So I want you to listen to Ronald Logan in his interview with us and where he said he was at the time those girls went missing. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOGAN: It was shortly after they were found. I had been in (INAUDIBLE) and was coming home and I saw all the -- when I went to town (INAUDIBLE)

they hadn`t been found yet. When I came home, they had been, and it was -- and then I found out that they were not -- that they were not alive. It

was just -- it was horrible. I mean, I don`t know how you -- because (INAUDIBLE) all end well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So Sergeant Riley, he told us he was in Delphi, but he told other reporters that he was in Lafayette. Is that curious to you? They`re

not far apart, but they`re far enough part that you`re not typically in both places at exactly the same time.

RILEY: Right (INAUDIBLE) because of the investigation is still going on, I can`t make a comment one way or the other on that.

BANFIELD: Understand. Is it something that you`re going to look into? I`m not sure if we`re the first people to tell you that we`ve had differing

alibis, different locations from this particular person, albeit in press reports.

RILEY: Right. And that`s things that the investigators are looking at, they`re talking to him about, I`m sure. But as far as, you know, giving

you the exact words that he said, I just can`t go into that at this point in time.

BANFIELD: OK. So can you just tell me, Sergeant Riley, where the evidence is right now that`s being analyzed?

RILEY: Most of it has probably been sent off to our laboratory in Indianapolis, and that stuff will be gone over and looked at, and it`ll all

be tested for different things, and we`ll just have to see what happens. And that could take anywhere from four to six weeks on some of it.

BANFIELD: Sergeant, thank you so much.

I also want to bring in Andrew Achey, who is the attorney for Ron Logan. He joins me from Logansport (ph), Indiana. Thank you, Andrew, for being so

patient. I know it`s hard to hear a lot of these questions and certainly difficult to hear those two stories of the two different alibis given to

two different reporters, one to us and one to other reporters.

Can you account for those two alibis of your client?

ANDREW ACHEY, LOGAN`S ATTORNEY (via telephone): Well, you`re more than welcome. And good evening. I cannot comment on the facts of the case at

this time, and I certainly can`t account for that at this time.

BANFIELD: Have you spoken with Mr. Logan as he`s now been sitting in a jail cell for well over a week?

ACHEY: I have spoken with him on several different occasions. I actually just spoke with him about an hour ago, maybe two hours ago.

BANFIELD: And what did he say? Tell me what he said.

ACHEY: Well, I can`t tell you what he said, but he`s holding his head high. He`s in good spirits, and we`re hoping to get this resolved as

quickly as possible. And like you pointed out earlier, he is being held on a probation violation. He`s not being held on anything related to the

disappearance or the murders of the two girls.

BANFIELD: And that`s important to point out, without question. I did find it curious he`s held without bond. Did you?

ACHEY: No, I don`t. Indiana code allows judges to hold an individual who`s on probation for up to 15 days before they have a fact-finding

hearing.

BANFIELD: OK.

ACHEY: So I don`t think that`s serious.

BANFIELD: Can I ask you, Andrew, the one curious thing I heard in the interview that your client, Mr. Logan, said was that his son and his

grandson often play all out there in the rural area. Where is Mr. Logan`s son? And has he been questioned by police at any time in this

investigation?

ACHEY: I`m not going to speak for his son or his grandson. I don`t know where they are, and even if I did know, I wouldn`t tell you where they

were.

BANFIELD: I really appreciate you coming on with us. I know it`s not the easiest of interviews. But hopefully, we`ll be able to talk with you

again. Andrew (INAUDIBLE) is the attorney for Ron Logan as we continue to follow this story. Thank you, Mr. Achey.

ACHEY: You`re more than welcome.

BANFIELD: A worker at a Riteaid in Hillsboro (ph), Oregon, went -- there`s no other way to say it -- absolutely above and beyond when he followed a

customer that he suspected of shoplifting out of the store, and then hauled her right back again. And here`s what it looked like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I`m not going to let go. I`m going to call the police and deal with it the right way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s not the right way to just take someone`s purse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re not going to go anywhere. We`re going to call the police.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:

BANFIELD: You`re shoplifting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you assault someone, you`ll go to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) jail!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. Good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) someone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the police comes, we`ll see. We`ll see, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes? We will see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ll see.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re shoplifting. You can`t shoplift here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes? Why not?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, why not?

[20:30:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don`t shoplift here. You can go somewhere else, but not here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fine, let me go somewhere else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re not going anywhere. You`re shoplifting. Stay right here and we`re going to call the police. You`re going to get

arrested.

BANFIELD: This went on and on and on. She kicked him. She was screaming. People were still shopping. It was kind of odd. You can see a co-worker

coming in from the Rite Aid -- an employee approaching the two as they struggle over that purse. But she lets them both know that the fuzz is on

the way. And then the altercation actually started intensifying

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let go of my purse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma`am, oh, you`re going to start kicking?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re going to start kicking after shoplifting? Start kicking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s hurting me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re shoplifting. You`re going to shoplift and then you`re kicking me. Go ahead and watch what happens.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You punched me in the parking lot. You threw me --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes, I did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at my arm --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I sure did. Really? I`m going to take you down for this.

Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get her glasses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ma`am, you need to chill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to chill out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to chill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop it. Stop it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to calm down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let him go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No. No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let her go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t like it. I don`t like -- do you know her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let her go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

BANFIELD: He didn`t. And here is who came in the end. And also wouldn`t let her go. She was arrested and charged with robbery. And remember that

question he said, you can`t shop lift at Rite Aid and she said why not? This is why not.

We reached out to Rite aid because we wanted to know if that employee, nameless right now, if he got a raise or some kind of commendation for

being that committed to his job to suffer through the hell that that woman put him through. We don`t know. But we`re here on television to tell you,

way to go fellow. Way to go! And off she went.

So, imagine going to pick your kids up at the day care. You do it all the time, right? And the one of them is just not there. Just not there. No

answers really except a weird one. A mother in Florida says that`s what happened to Pathways. Tonight, she wants answers from the workers, and wait

until you hear some of the really crazy stuff they told her and the 911 call that she made.

[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: For a lot of working moms and dads, after work, you know the drill. You head over to the day care. You pick up your little one. But what

if that little one just wasn`t there? This is exactly what a Florida woman -- that happened to her.

She arrived at Pathways Early Learning Center to pick up her 2-year-old and her 4 year old. Problem is the 4-year-old wasn`t there. She had already

been picked up they said. What? Holly Smith knew that she had not made any arrangements for that 4-year-old so she was naturally terrified and

immediately called 911.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 911. What is your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, yes, I`m at Pathways day care in Port Orange and somebody has taken my daughter. They said somebody gave them an ID and said

that I approved to her to pick her up and I didn`t.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Yes, she`s right. She didn`t. Holly Smith is the mother of that 4-year-old who was mistakenly released to a complete stranger. Holly is

with me live from Port Orange, Florida. Holly, you`re smiling now. You sure weren`t smiling then. Am I correct when I read that they released your

daughter thinking your daughter was someone else`s daughter?

HOLLY SMITH, MOTHER OF MISSING CHILD: That is correct, yes.

BANFIELD: That sounds crazy.

SMITH: It was absolutely insane as the only way I can describe it.

BANFIELD: What did they tell you, and how did they explain to you why your daughter wasn`t there?

SMITH: They thought that my daughter was another child essentially, another adult had picked up or was sent to pick up another child by a

completely different name, completely different age. And so she went to the back where the older kids were looking for this child, and some staff

member, I guess, thought that my daughter was the child she was looking for because she looked up and made eye contact when they called that child`s

name.

BANFIELD: Yes. It is insane to think that happened. And just so everyone is clear, some other mother called that day care earlier in the day and

said, yes, I`m not going to be able to make it so I`m sending my co-worker to pick up my kid. And when that co-worker showed up and clearly didn`t

know the kid, she had taken any kid. And they just happen to hand over your kid. But your daughter was four and she didn`t know this woman and she

protested and that didn`t work.

SMITH: No it didn`t. When that happened was I guess they put the other child`s mother on the phone with my daughter and so my daughter hears

another female voice on the phone saying it`s OK, you can go with this woman. And my daughter didn`t know any different. I don`t really talk to

her on the phone very much because I`m usually with her.

[20:40:00] BANFIELD: So, this is basically two hours of hell for you, wasn`t it?

SMITH: Almost. It was.

BANFIELD: The cameras weren`t working apparently. All these great surveillance cameras that you are so trusting of, they weren`t working.

SMITH: They weren`t working. And there are signs on every window of that building that say building under surveillance. And all of the center

workers were under the impression that the cameras were functioning. The director of the day care had gone for the day. They called her and she came

back. Some of the first words out of her mouth were we`re going to pull those footage, we`re going to finds here. We`re going to pull the footage.

BANFIELD: Except that the lady who showed ID they didn`t write the name down and couldn`t remember who she was. Hold that thought for a second

Holly. I want to bring in Danny Cevallos and Caroline Polisi who are here with me.

So, here`s the weird part. It took until end of day when they closed and they found a stray kid that they realized oh, you`re the one we were

supposed to give up, not this other one. I just can`t understand how a charge couldn`t be filed and it wasn`t -- no charge is filed. No child

endangerment. No recklessness. No nothing. Why is that?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Because it`s a slippery slope when we`re talking about a private day care center. Was it negligent? Probably,

but may be in a civil sense. To charge someone for criminal negligence in a case like this, a prosecutor could make it out. It just requires a high

degree of negligence and just to you and I, it sure sounds like that so far.

BANFIELD: I think it`s super negligent.

CEVALLOS: Mega, mega, negligent, is that maybe the term?

BANFIELD: Yes. To hear someone call earlier and give you the name of the child and then to have someone come in give you the name of the child a and

still pick the wrong -- so maybe it`s not criminal. But my god Caroline, civil?

CAROLINE POLISI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, my heart was racing when I read this story because I think this is every parent`s worst nightmare and we

know that this woman went through excruciating hours but I agree with Danny that the question is, does it really rise to a level of a criminal

negligence?

BANFIELD: Civil? What about civil?

POLISI: Absolutely, no question it`s civil. But at the end of the day, nobody was hurt but the day care --

BANFIELD: Oh, I think Holly was.

POLISI: No, physically -- physically nobody was hurt. And so at the end the day, the day care said, look, you know, everybody ended up in the home

that they where suppose to so, certainly civil charge.

BANFIELD: Wrist bands, this is what I say. Wrist bands on the kid.

CEVALLOS: Maybe tattoos. I don`t know. I don`t have kids. I don`t know. I have no idea how that works.

BANFIELD: Danny. Cevallos. All right, we`re going to move over the show here. A coroner saying that two parents likely died of fentanyl or heroin

an OD and here`s the problem, I know you hear that a lot, but you don`t happen to hear that there were four kids at home who found the bodies.

And you don`t often hear about the couple, a mom and a dad, really not typical faces either. A lovely wedding, a beautiful bride, a beautiful

groom -- to make matters worse, if you`ve taken a trip recently in the air, dad might have been a pilot flying your plane.

I want to introduce to you right now to the very first CNN Hero of 2017. After losing her 8-year-old son to leukemia, Leslie Morissette is using

twenty-first century technology to keep kids battling life-threatening illnesses connected to their everyday lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESLIE MORISSETTE, CNN HERO: It`s really difficult for kids to spend a lot of time in the hospital. They get so disconnected from their family and

friends and schools and when we bring them this technology, they`re able to dial in and be right in the classroom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Phillip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE/FEMALE: Hi Phillip.

MORISSETTE: You can just see their face light right up. It brings them such joy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: To see the feel (ph) bot in action, that`s the name of the robot, and to watch Leslie`s full story, just go to CNNHeros.com and hey,

while you`re there, you can nominate someone you know who deserves to be named the CNN Hero. So do that. Go to CNNHeros.com

[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A pilot and his wife found dead in the master bedroom of their home in Ohio and this was no murder mystery. Coroner says the parents

likely ODed and it was likely a fentanyl/heroin mix. The couple`s four kids were at home at the time of their death, and two of them called 911 after

finding mom and dad unresponsive.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My parents are just on the floor. They`re not waking up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, can you tell if they`re breathing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, they`re not breathing, no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did you -- did you just walk in and find them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My parents -- my mom`s on the floor and my stepdad`s face is like pale and they`re not waking up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both of your parents?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The family members say that Courtney Holly had used drugs in the past and they say she was an addict. But what is as disturbing is that the

parents or what was as disturbing as the parents using hard drugs with four kids in the house was the story of the dad because his job was unusual. He

was a pilot with Spirit Airlines and was a pilot for nine years with them.

He could have been flying your plane if you took a recent trip. His last flight was March 10th. That was five or six days before his death depending

on whether he died at night or in the morning when the kids found them getting ready for school.

Justin Green is CNN`s aviation analyst. He`s also an aviation attorney and a pilot.

[20:50:04] Justin, what`s so distressing about this is when you hear about someone dying from heroin and fentanyl mix, you don`t typically think that

it`s your first go. You typically think if you`re on a hard drug like that, you may have been doing it a while. And we certainly know that Mrs. Holly

had been an addict in the past. We talked to a doctor who said that you could actually functionally fly a plane while on fentanyl. It scares the

living day lights out of me.

JUSTIN GREEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes. You know, everyone knows fentanyl is a killer but a professional pilot working for an airline is using

fentanyl, he can kill or she can kill not only herself or himself but everyone on the airplane. So it`s really, really disturbing and completely

against the professionalism that you would expect from a commercial pilot.

BANFIELD: Do they test you guys a lot regularly, is it random, I mean (INAUDIBLE) but how do we know?

GREEN: No. You know, they test pilots before you`re going to get hired and there is a very robust educational program and every pilot knows that, you

know, their career depends on not using drugs. So it`s really shocking that they have this pilot using such a dangerous drug like fentanyl.

One of the things that you have to understand, they don`t test pilots every day. And fentanyl, as a matter of fact, I think in this year, the standard

is 25 percent of all pilots are being tested on an annual basis. And fentanyl is not even going to stay in your system. So, Spirit Airline could

(INAUDIBLE) all of everything and not behind the stack (ph).

BANFIELD: So Danny and Caroline are still with me too. Danny, you know, you want to sort of put someone to blame. You want to be angry. These poor

kids why do they -- two of them. They`re step kids, right. It`s a brady bunch.

CEVALLOS: Right. Exactly.

BANFIELD: Two of them, their dad also died of an OD.

CEVALLOS: Yes.

BANFIELD: Several years ago. So they are orphans. The other two have lost a parent, you know, each and you want to blame someone. You want someone to

go after but in this circumstance, I just don`t know that there`s anyone you can come after. I mean unless you can track down who gave it to them,

but even then.

CEVALLOS: Let me put my prosecutor hat and you hit it exactly. If they can track down who provided this fentanyl and what was provided? Was it

something that was prescription or was it counterfeit pill because fentanyl is a Schedule 2 drug, but it`s also used a lot to make fake heroin or I

should say counterfeit heroin or to cut heroin. The problem is Fentanyl is just so much stronger than heroin and it`s deadly. Law enforcement officers

are getting sick from airborne fentanyl when they do busts on suspected drug houses. That`s how dangerous it is.

BANFIELD: Caroline, this is the drug that killed Prince.

POLISI: It is. It`s exactly the drug that killed Prince and I think that we`ll find out more when the toxicology report come back in this case but I

really think that something doesn`t sit well with me these here and that this were supposedly simultaneous accidental overdoses. But really when you

think about it, it`s kind of weird. You know, what are the odds that they happened simultaneously at the same time and they were accidental so, I`m

waiting to hear about this case.

BANFIELD: Yes. Well that leaves a whole can of worms opened, don`t they? It`s just so sad seeing them with such happy days and knowing how the story

ended.

CEVALLOS: Opiates are discouraged.

BANFIELD: They are. I mean, this is just epidemic. We`re going to continue to watch (INAUDIBLE) as well as they come in.

Police received a call about a woman slapping a baby in a drugstore parking lot. When they arrived on the scene, it got a whole lot worse than that.

When it was all over, police had to explain their decision to use that kind of force on that woman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off of me. You act like you want to hit him. You hit (BLEEP). I did not hit you. You keep touching me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Use of force by police coming into question. We have some pretty dramatic video that was caught on tap. Police say they were responding to

the report of a woman slapping and yelling at a baby outside of Walgreens in northern California.

And police say when they approached that woman she had the 3-month-old in her arms but she grew angrier and did not obey their instructions. The

encounter became violent with the police eventually had to use a strike against the woman with their baton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off of me. You act like you want to hit him. You hit (BLEEP). I did not hit you. You keep touching me. Stop touching me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let go of the child.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let go of me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, that`s unnecessary. You don`t have to hurt her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The woman eventually did let go of that child after she was hit by the baton but she continued to struggle while they were handcuffing her.

She allegedly grabbed an officer neck, police hit her in the face and she did go to the ground, kicking one of the officers. He tased her and she was

finally arrested.

(BEGIN VDIEO)

ROB LENKE, FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: The officers when they responded they were calm. They tried to explain the reason they were there,

tried to investigate the other side of this. Obviously we only have one side from the caller. We need to find out from her exactly is going on.

She didn`t allow us to do that. She`s got a strong hold under that child`s arm. Use of force is ugly. It doesn`t look good. It`s the last thing than

an officer wants to do, but unfortunately sometimes it`s necessary. And in this situation our concern was for that young child.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: My thanks to Danny Cevallos and Caroline Polisi for being here tonight.

And thank you as well, everyone. We`ll see you back here tomorrow night at 8:00, PRIMETIME JUSTICE. Stay tuned for "HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED" with Hill

Harper, coming up next, and taking a closer look into the O.J. Simpson case. It starts right now.

[21:00:04]

END