‘Town Crier’ Newsletter – Briefs from the Region (2) – 12/31/19

California surgeon attempts kidnap, flees in private jet

On Dec. 8, orthopedic surgeon Theresa Colosi was on a supervised visit with her son and a court-ordered supervision contractor when she savagely attacked the contractor with a blunt metal object. The supervisor allegedly yelled for the boy to run to safety, from behind a Goleta, California bowling alley, but Colosi followed him. Colosi, 55, failed to catch the boy and fled alone some 1,300 miles from Lompoc Airport to Whitefish, Montana in a chartered private jet. According to California investigators, the surgeon had given away her belongings, withdrawn $900,000 in cash, and used fake names for herself, her son and her dog to charter the jet. This discovery led police to believe she was attempting a kidnapping, according to The New York Post. A surveillance operation on her suspected hideout, led by Whitefish police in collaboration with investigators in Santa Barbara County, lasted three days until she was arrested and extradited on Dec. 19 back to California on felony charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted kidnapping and attempted child-theft charges.