woman took her child hostage; was high on meth

Kimberly Cardell (photo: 8NewsNow)

A woman took her child hostage in Las Vegas and barricaded herself in a room at Budget Suites was high on methamphetamine.

Las Vegas Metro Police received a call early Sunday from the woman, Kimberly Kardell, who said that she planned on killing herself and her child. She initially identified herself as Sophia Maria Banana Hammock.

Officers raced to the scene at the Budget Suites located on  North Rancho Drive and found a terrifying scene.  Kardell was holding one hand around her son’s throat and in the other hand was a knife.

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According to Fox5Vegas, she refused to release her son and the SWAT Team was called.

They were able to reach Kardell by telephone and she had an extended conversation with a police officer and talked of being upset that a former boyfriend broke up with her.

The hostage drama ended over 3 hours later with the Las Vegas Review Journal reporting that officers knocked down the hotel unit’s door.

Fortunately the son was not injured after the woman took her child hostage.  After being checked out by medical personnel,  he has was placed with Child Protective Services (CPS).

Kimberly Kardell has been charged with first degree kidnapping,  assault with a deadly weapon, child abuse with a deadly weapon, allowing a child to be near controlled substances and resisting a police officer.

She allegedly told police that she smoked methamphetamine that morning and had an assortment of knives that were found in her room.

There are also reports that have said that Kardell did not intend to really hurt her son and that the woman took her child hostage hoping the police would shoot and kill her. A phenomenon known as “Suicide by Cop”.

Methamphetamine continues to be a problem in the Las Vegas Valley as in many other cities.   To help curtail the availability of ingredients needed to make “meth”, laws were enacted over 10 years ago to limit the amount of certain medications – because they contained Pseudoephedrine ,a key ingredient in meth.

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