NFL legend Joe Montana subdued a kidnapper in his own home on Saturday evening, according to a report by TMZ Sports. Law enforcement sources said that an intruder entered Montana’s house at around 5 p.m. and grabbed one of Montana’s grandchildren right out of a woman’s arms. Montana managed to wrestle the baby back from the kidnapper, but the intruder escaped.
The altercation took place at a home in Los Angeles where Montana and his wife, Jennifer, stayed this weekend. An unidentified woman reportedly strolled in through an unlocked door and made a beeline for a woman holding a baby. She then walked into another part of the house where Montana and his wife headed her off. They got their grandchild back as the intruder ran out of the house. The would-be kidnapper was then picked up by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department not far away.
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Police were already on the same block as the attempted kidnapper for an unrelated matter, sources said. Someone in Montana’s house flagged down the officers, who were then able to find the intruder just a few blocks away. She was identified as a 39-year-old woman, but no more information was provided on her. She was booked on charges of kidnapping and burglary.
Montana and his wife married in 1985 and have four children together — Alexandra Whitney, Elizabeth Jean, Nathaniel Joseph and Nicholas Alexander. The eldest, Alexandra, is now 35 years old, while the youngest, Nicholas, is 28, but it is not clear which of them have children and whose grandchildren Montana and his wife were visiting with on Saturday.
Montana retired from the NFL in 1995, and family became the main focus of his life. In a 2015 interview with local CBS News affiliate KPIX, Montana and his wife described themselves as “empty-nesters,” trying to adjust to their new lifestyle with their children out of the house. Even with the demands of their fame, Jennifer said that family means “everything, everything… It’s something we’ve really stressed to the kids growing up.”
“I think it’s a question of what’s important,” she continued. “You make a list of things you need to do and sometimes it gets squashed… One phone call from the kids.”
Montana is relatively active on social media, but so far, he has not publicly addressed Saturday night’s disturbing events. However, fans are aghast at what the NFL star has been through and impressed that he and Jennifer were able to handle it unscathed.
