A man is accused of trying to abduct a young boy in the middle off a Walmart.
Pablo Pintueles Hernandez is charged with false imprisonment of a child 13 years old and under, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office in Florida announced.
Surveillance footage shows a man walk up to a small child. He began to pull the boy away until a woman leapt forward and grabbed the child back, pulling him behind a nearby shopping cart. Deputies claim Pintueles Hernandez is that man.
Authorities said they responded to a Walmart on Friday in the community of Lehigh Acres. It was regarding an attempted kidnapping, they said.
They said they learned that a man, later identified as Pintueles Hernandez, tried to abduct a 4-year-old boy from the child’s family by grabbing and walking away with him.
“Deputies immediately reviewed the surveillance footage and confirmed an unknown man walked up to the child shopping with his family, grabbed his wrist, and forced him to go in his direction before a family member intervened and pulled the child back,” deputies said. “Deputies tirelessly worked alongside our Real Time Intelligence Center Analysts to identify the suspect. Together, analysts and deputies utilized advanced technology to quickly identify and locate Pintueles Hernandez. Within an hour of the incident, deputies responded to the residence of Pintueles Hernandez where his identity was confirmed. Due to the nature of the crime, our Major Crimes Unit detectives responded to the home and began investigating.”
Detectives claim they confirmed that Pintueles Hernandez did in fact grab the child’s wrist, pulled him, and said, “let’s go.” The defendant is accused of restraining the boy’s movement and directing him to walk with him.
“What this criminal did is incredibly disturbing,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said. “I never want anyone in Lee County to feel unsafe, especially going on a simple shopping trip. My team will stop at NOTHING to ensure criminals like this face the consequences of their actions.”
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