Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Parents Arrested After Not Returning Kid To CPS: SCPD

Both parents of a 3-year-old child were arrested after they failed to surrender him to CPS earlier this month, police say.

Selina Elswick, 32, of Commack, with her 3-year-old son. She was supposed to return him to Suffolk County Family Court but fled her home, police said.
Selina Elswick, 32, of Commack, with her 3-year-old son. She was supposed to return him to Suffolk County Family Court but fled her home, police said. (Suffolk County Police Department)

Updated midnight Jan. 29: Selina Elswick, 32, of Huntington Station, was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Huntington Station after police say she did not return her 3-year-old son, Damian Sollas, to Suffolk County Family Court in Central Islip when she was supposed to Jan. 22. The boy's father, Thomas Sollas, 43, of Huntington Station, was also arrested, police say. Both parents were charged with endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree custodial interference.

Elswick was additionally held on a warrant from Suffolk County Family Court, police said. Elswick is being held overnight at the Fourth Precinct and Sollas is being held overnight at the Fifth Precinct. Both are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday at First District Court in Central Islip.

Updated 4:30 p.m.: After Sollas was reported missing, a county-wide alert was sent to all SCPD officers. An officer saw a woman walking on New York Avenue who fit Elswick's description, police said. The officer walked up to her and identified her as Elswick, police said. Officers say an investigation led them to a nearby home where the boy was found unharmed.

Find out what's happening in Commackfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Updated 4 p.m.: Damian Sollas, 3, was found unharmed in Huntington Station following a police investigation. He will be released to the custody of Child Protective Services.

Original story: COMMACK, NY — Suffolk County Police detectives are seeking the public’s help to find a child who was reported missing after police say his mother did not surrender custody to Child Protective Services earlier this month.

Find out what's happening in Commackfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Selina Elswick, 32, of Huntington Station, was scheduled to return her 3-year-old son, Damian Sollas, to Suffolk County Family Court in Central Islip on Jan. 22 and didn't show up, police said. When CPS representatives tried to take custody of the child at Elswick's Commack residence, they discovered the two moved out of the home on Jan. 16, police said. CPS then contacted the Suffolk County Police Department Jan. 22 to report the child missing.

Police described Elswick as white, 5 feet 6 inches tall, around 150 pounds with red hair and brown eyes. Sollas is white, roughly 40 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Police say the two might be with the child’s father, Thomas Sollas, 43, and traveling in a box truck with Lite House Electrical written on the side.

Anyone with information is asked to call Fourth Squad detectives at 631-854-8452 or 911.

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