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Jimmy Sanchez, 39, of Amherst, pleaded guilty on Monday to several felonies and was sentenced to 8-10 years in prison, the Northwestern District Attorney said. He had previously been held without bail after a judge ruled him too dangerous to be released.
A family at a home on Spring Street in Amherst heard a noise around 2 a.m. on March 13, 2021, and found Sanchez trying to steal their baby and items from the second floor of the house, the prosecutor said. They chased him outside and wrestled the 20-month-old from his grasp, but the infant suffered minor injuries in the scuffle.
Sanchez escaped, but police arrested him the following day when he was caught trying to steal a laptop from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the prosecutor said.
Sanchez admitted to the break-in and said he took the child because it would let him "escape the house without harm to himself or others," the prosecutor relayed. He said he didn't mean to hurt the child.
Investigators found items from other home burglaries in the area on him, authorities said.
Sanchez pleaded guilty to:
- Kidnapping a child under 16
- Breaking and entering in the nighttime with intent to commit a felony (two counts)
- Burglary with assault upon an occupant
- Stealing in a building
- Assault and battery
- Attempted larceny in a building
- Larceny under $1,200 (two counts)
The judge ordered Sanchez to serve 5 years of probation after he is released from prison.
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