Shocking footage captured the moment an accused kidnapper approached a little boy and lured him away from his Florida home.
Jose Reynaldo Martinez Reyes, 56, was arrested and charged with kidnapping and interference with custody after he was caught with six-year-old Jake Rivera a mile from the boy’s home on Saturday.
Rivera was playing soccer with his older brother in front of their home when the brother went inside to use the bathroom and Reyes approached, according to the Miami-Dade Police Department.
Surveillance video from a neighbor’s house obtained by NBC6 showed Reyes kicking the ball around with the boy.
After briefly playing with the child, Reyes wrapped his arm around Rivera and directed him to walk away from the house.
Police said after befriending the six-year-old, Reyes lured him away from the residence with the promise of purchasing him a toy.
‘The guy came over to me and said, “Do you wanna come with me?” And I said sure,’ Rivera told the local news station.
When the older brother returned and realized Rivera was missing, he got his cousin and began searching for the child.
Shocking footage captured the moment an accused kidnapper approached a little boy and lured him away
Jose Reynaldo Martinez Reyes (pictured), 56, was arrested and charged with kidnapping and interference with custody after he was caught with six-year-old Jake Rivera
‘I was sleeping and my cousin woke me up and said my little cousin was abducted by a man,’ said Alfredo Velasquez, their cousin.
The pair found Reyes and Rivera walking along the roadway hand in hand over a mile from their house.
Rivera’s brother confronted Reyes, who claimed the boy was his child and began to physically struggle for control of him.
‘His older brother came in, pushed him and punched him just to get his brother back, put him in the car,’ Velasquez said.
The investigation determined that Reyes has no familial ties to any person involved in this incident and was a stranger to the child.
In November, video revealed the moment a masked man attempted to kidnap a young Jewish boy as he walked to synagogue with his father in broad daylight in New York.
The terrifying incident unfolded as a father and his 6-year-old son were walking to a sabbath gathering on Kingston Avenue in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Stephen Sowe, 28, was arrested after he was captured on chilling security camera footage suddenly trying to yank the young boy from his father’s arms, pulling his body so hard his feet could be seen leaving the ground.
After briefly playing with the child, Reyes wrapped his arm around Rivera and directed him to walk away from the house
Rivera (pictured) said the man asked him if he wanted to go with him and the boy replied ‘sure’
Despite the man’s forceful attempts, the father never lost his grip on the child and the alleged kidnap attempt was unsuccessful.
Stowe, a gang member with 33 prior arrests, was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping on Sunday, authorities and sources told the New York Post.
He was also charged with acting in a manner injurious to a child and harassment and held without bail during his arraignment.
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