A 36-year-old man was arrested and charged after he allegedly grabbed a 6-year-old boy off a public sidewalk in New York City and tossed him, according to police.
Officers apprehended the suspect after he allegedly grabbed the kid, then threw him down, in Coney Island around 10 p.m. It wasn’t clear if the boy and suspect knew each other.
“I couldn’t believe what I saw. This man came out of nowhere and scooped him up, scooped up my son and was running with him by way of the boardwalk,” said the boy’s father, Roy Gantt. “It was like a bad nightmare.”
Gantt said he and his family were on their way to buy some treats when his son was grabbed and picked up by the man dressed in black, who walked off with him a short distance before chucking him to the ground.
“I had to chase him. I had to leave my baby by the Nathan’s Famous store,” said Gantt.
The boy, Rashem Gantt, said the man threw him to the ground after he had bumped into him. The child was treated at Coney Island Hospital for a head injury and is expected to recover.
“I hear ‘Ahh!’ screaming, I look back — somebody is running away with my son in they arm, cradling him like a football,” said Sharon Robinson, Rashem’s mother. “I run across the street and I tackle the guy … the police jumped on me and slammed me against the window cause they thought I was attacking the guy. I tried to explain, ‘Hey, this stranger slammed my baby on the ground.'”
Robinson said police wouldn’t let her go until a crowd of witnesses came forward to explain what happened.
The suspect, later identified as Jonathan Robalino, was taken into custody shortly after. He faces charges including assault and attempted kidnapping. Attorney information for Robalino was not immediately available.
“He definitely needs to go to jail because he can’t be running around doing that. He can’t be doing that to children,” said Gantt.
Robalino has seven prior arrests, police sources said. A member of the Guardian Angels group said Robalino is known around the area and may have mental illness.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/sZ1KaL3
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