Venice Amber Alert suspect in custody; son recovered safely

VENICE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A woman wanted for allegedly abducting her son from a Venice school, triggering an Amber Alert, was taken into custody, and the boy was recovered safely.

Nisha Burnett was spotted with her son West Burnett in her BMW on Venice Boulevard Wednesday night. Police approached the car, and she appeared to at first be speaking with them but eventually drove away from the scene, leading officers on a short chase.

She then pulled over and took her son on foot into a Harley Davidson store in Marina del Rey. Officers followed her inside and quickly took her into custody.

The boy was seen walking out with officers a few minutes later, appearing unharmed.

"Please. I didn't kidnap him," Amber Alert suspect Nisha Burnett tells ABC7 as she flees police with her son in the car.

Before Burnett was taken into custody, she drove by an Eyewitness News crew.

"I have my son. Please. I didn't kidnap him," she shouted out her window as she slowly rolled by.

Reporter Melissa MacBride and cameraman Hector Batista told her to pull over.

"No," she replied. "They're gonna arrest me."

Later in the evening, West Burnett left the LAPD's Pacific station with family members and spoke briefly to reporters. He said his mother brought him to McDonald's for some fries, but couldn't recall everything else they did during the day.

"I'm feeling scared," the boy said. "Because my mom picked me up out of school."

His father and aunt picked up the boy at the police station. They described her as bipolar and schizophrenic and said they were afraid of what she might do.

"I was scared that maybe she was just having that moment where, 'If I can't have him, nobody can.'" the boy's father said.

The Amber Alert was issued earlier for the 6-year-old boy after police said his non-custodial mother took him from his elementary school around 8:35 a.m.

A relative of the boy said the mother is mentally ill, taking drugs and represents a danger to the child.

She said Nisha Burnett had a restraining order against her for the next two years to stay away from the boy because of "possible endangerment of the child."