PHOENIX — The Saturday night Amber Alert suspect was a father who grabbed his two children Saturday from his wife in Phoenix and drove off with them in her vehicle.
He later told 12 News that the courts and police told him he could do it.
We're now learning his wife had already gone to court to keep him away.
Justin Bylsma's behavior was unusual for an Amber Alert suspect.
He was eager for publicity from the media and on YouTube.
"I'm just a dad who loves his kids and was trying to do the right thing," Bylsma, 36, told a 12 News reporter Sunday morning after requesting an interview.
"I had every legal right to come get them," he said.
The interview came just hours after Bylsma and the children, a 3-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter, were tracked down at a Gila Bend hotel.
Bylsma had claimed "the courts and police" had told him he could take his and his wife's two children back to their home in Utah.
12 News confirmed Bylsma's wife had obtained an order of protection at the Hassayampa Justice Court in Maricopa County to keep him away from their children.
When Maricopa County sheriff's deputies confronted Bylsma in the Gila Bend hotel early Sunday morning, he recorded their interaction on his phone, posted the video to YouTube, and emailed a link to 12 News.
When the deputies served him with the protective order and said they were taking his children, Bylsma responded: "That's not legal, by the way."
"Yes, it is," one of the deputies said.
Bylsma claimed he had filed for divorce from his wife, but acknowledged to deputies the divorce papers hadn't been served.
The Amber Alert was issued by Phoenix police. Here's what a spokesman said:
"The Phoenix Police Department takes very seriously the gravity of activating an alert...The primary and immediate responsibility is to locate the child or children in question and ensure they are safe."
Police say they are continuing to investigate the children's abduction.
The two children have been returned to their mother.
I spoke to her briefly today. She told me her husband had suffered mental health problems recently.
She added: "I just want the drama to end," and then hung up.
Bylsma has not been arrested.