Police: Woman Tried To Abduct Boy, 2, From Central Park Playground
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police released a sketch Friday of a woman who allegedly tried to abduct a 2-year-old boy at Heckscher playground in Central Park this week.
Around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, the woman entered the playground, located toward the south end of Central Park, and picked up the boy, who had been sitting on a swing, police said.
She tried to leave the park with the boy, police said.
The boy's nanny, a 27-year-old woman who was pushing the toddler's brother on an adjacent swing, stopped the woman from exiting the park and took the child back, police said.
The boy was not injured, and the woman ran off, police said.
The incident was reported to police on Thursday, police said.
On Friday, there was a heavy police presence in the park, CBS2's Matt Kozar reported. It included a mobile command center, officers on foot, and cruisers roaming along the center drive.
Police: Woman Tried To Abduct Boy, 2, From Central Park Playground
As 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reported, the news that a woman grabbed a 2-year-old out of a swing made some people uneasy.
"It's not going to deter us from coming to the park. If anything it reminds us to be more cautious when someone else is with our kids," Matt said.
Luis Jimenez was disturbed by what happened, and said he always keeps a close eye on his kids at the playground.
"Always watching them all the time. We try to keep safe," he said.
The suspect was described a black woman around 32 years old, standing about 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds. She had short curly black hair and was last seen wearing dark-colored pants.
The attempted abduction happened at the same playground where, police said, a group of teens beat up and robbed a young couple on Saturday night.
And on Sunday night, a man stole a purse from a teenage girl at 109th Street and East Drive, police said.
A mugging also took place along the 81st Street Transverse near Belvedere Castle Sunday morning. In that incident, a 45-year-old man was choked and robbed of his wallet and backpack by a gun-wielding suspect.
Prior to this week's spike in crimes inside Central Park, police said there were only four incidents in the park this year.
"Every once in a while you have that aberration. That park remains one of the safest places in America," Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said.
Still, New Yorkers were worried by the increase in muggings and assaults.
"It's scary over here, and then you have this big park. I'm not trying to come out here at night time," one woman said.
Anyone with information in the incidents was asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, log onto the Crime Stoppers website, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577.
