James McGonagle, 24, from New York who purportedly tried to kidnap a 5 year old boy in broad daylight was detained by cops.
Police said that James McGonagle was charged with attempted abduction, irresponsible endangerment and acting in a manner harmful to a child for allegedly trying to kidnap 5 year old Jacob Diaz.
Jacob’s mother Dolores Diaz Lopez was filmed in investigation footage saving her son and pulling him from the kidnapper’s car through the window after he was blatantly snatched from a walkway in the Richmond Hill neighbourhood of Queens.
An older bald man, believed to be James’s partner in crime is yet to be found. He was spotted in the alarming video of the attack wearing jeans and an orange polo shirt with sunglasses.
James was lifted when cops at Brookdale Hospital recognized him from the investigation video. The police said that the suspect was apparently at the hospital seeking treatment and is undergoing assessment.
The mother noted that the unfamiliar person who snatched her son did not say anything as he put him in the car and she had never seen him before. Investigators said there is no indication that the suspects knew the boy’s mother.
Jacob’s mother said that she fought for her child and that she was so glad and relieved to hear that the accused had been arrested.
She said that her family feel good and now they know that the man is not on the street and he can’t do this with another kid.
Recalling the incident, Diaz Lopez said that she and her children were on their way to visit their father around 8pm on Hillside Avenue in the New York City area when the man jumped out of a parked maroon sedan and ran at them.
Investigation video from the scene shows the man alleged to be James, snatched the five-year-old boy and places him in the backseat of his car. Video shows that Diaz Lopez chased after the kidnappers with her young son Benny and her daughter Zuriely.
Jacob initially sits down in the car but when his older brother approaches, pleading with the suspect to release the boy, Jacob gets up and Diaz Lopez is able to pull him out.
According to the police, Jacob was not injured. His family said he was scared but did not cry through horrific encounter. Diaz Lopez said that all three of her kids are now traumatized and refuse to leave the house.
Diaz suggested that mothers have to be alert with their children and always hold their hand when walking with them because there are a lot of criminal people and you never know who is near.
