A 47-year-old man has been arrested by police in Massachusetts, US for the attempted abduction of a small child from a supermarket last Friday.
CCTV footage released to the public shows Stephen W. O’Brien enter the store – with no shirt on – and throw the child over his shoulder. He then rushes towards the exit before being confronted by a man to whom he hands the child over.
A statement issued by local police confirmed that O’Brien ‘picked up a small child who was with his mother and father, and walked towards the rear of the store at a fast pace’.
“The parents did not initially know what was going on and thought the man might be an employee playing with the child,” the police rep said.
It was the child’s father who pursued O’Brien, who ‘handed the child back and exited the store through a rear door’.
Police were called immediately, and O’Brien was arrested in a wooded area behind the store. He has since been charged with kidnap and resisting arrest.
Thank heavens this child is now safe.
