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Woman allegedly disguised herself as ICE agent, kidnapped ex-husband's girlfriend [1]
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Date: 2025-08
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WKRC) - A woman was arrested after she allegedly dressed up as an ICE agent and kidnapped her ex-husband's new girlfriend, telling her she needed to "suffer the consequences" for his actions.
According to a release from the Bay County Sheriff's Office, deputies were called to an apartment complex "in reference to a suspicious incident." First responders found a woman at the scene who claimed she was kidnapped by a woman pretending to be an ICE agent.
The victim was "shaking and appeared to be in fear" as she told authorities how she was at work at her job at Days Inn when a woman wearing a black jacket, pants, and hat, later identified as 52-year-old Latrance Battle, approached her and unzipped her shirt to reveal a shirt that said ICE, per an arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. Battle was also reportedly wearing sunglasses, a face mask, and had a walkie talkie.
Although the victim was confused, she believed Battle was a law enforcement officer and left the hotel and joined her in her car, per the affidavit. She reportedly told the victim that she was being taken to the sheriff's office.
The victim pulled out her phone and told Battle she was going to call her lawyer, but the suspect allegedly "reached in the back seat and forcibly snatched [her] phone from her hands." Battle said that the victim would get her "1 phone call" at the station, per the affidavit.
The victim said she "genuinely felt as if Latrance was an ICE agent at the time and she is in the process of becoming a legal United States resident," per the press release. Her first suspicion was raised when Battle drove by a location the victim knew had a sheriff's office, and continued driving until they reached an apartment complex.
During the drive, Battle reportedly "kept talking bad about [the victim's] husband and how [the victim] now has to suffer the consequences of her husband's actions."
Upon arriving at the apartments, Battle told the victim to get out of the vehicle and enter room 108, but not before Battle ran out of the car and entered the room, where she made "a lot of noise like she was moving stuff around or talking to someone," per the affidavit.
The victim took the fleeting moment to escape the vehicle and run to a nearby bystander, who she explained the situation to and asked to use his phone, police said.
The affidavit said Battle appeared to leave the parking lot for a short period of time before returning, at which point the bystander confronted her asking why she took the victim's phone, to which she reportedly said, "She knows what she did."
The bystander allowed the victim to hide in his apartment until police arrived, during which the victim called her husband who told her that by the physical description of Battle, she "sounded like his ex-girlfriend."
Battle and her ex-husband had reportedly had issues in the years prior to this incident, with the most recent being in 2023 when Battle "showed up to [her ex-husband's] place of business and attacked him."
Battle was arrested for robbery by sudden snatching, kidnapping, and impersonating a law enforcement officer. When she was arrested she was already on probation for aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony.
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[1] Url:
https://local12.com/news/nation-world/impersonated-ice-agent-kidnapped-girlfriend-ex-husbands-husband-impersonate-disguise-pretended-fraud-posed-posing-immigration-deport-police-law-enforcement-phone-attack-stole-robbery-took-relationship-woman
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