KENTWOOD — Deputies have arrested a man on aggravated kidnapping charges after a 2-year-old was found in Kentwood sleeping in the back of a car registered to him, officials said.

James Mercier was taken into custody on Wednesday morning after an AMBER Alert was issued for the missing toddler, after the young boy was abducted in Tangipahoa Parish

The child was last seen at approximately 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30, traveling southbound on Interstate 55 near Kentwood before being found early Wednesday morning in the back of Mercier's car.

The boy was sleeping in the back of the suspect vehicle in the parking lot of a business in the Kentwood area, Tangipahoa Parish deputies said.