Police Release Video Of Woman Who Allegedly Tried To Take Young Girl In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police on Tuesday released new video of a woman who allegedly tried to take a young child from her mother in Brooklyn.
As CBS2's Lou Young reported, reward posters also went up late Tuesday in the incident. Police were anxious to find out who the alleged would-be kidnapper was.
"In seconds, she took my daughter and she ran away," said the girl's father, Omar Kaza. "I want to ask her why."
Kaza's family is in hiding because of the suspect.
Around 9:50 a.m. Saturday, the mother and her two young children were heading home from the laundromat on 17th Avenue near 80th Street in Bensonhurst, when children began playing with puppies on display near a pet store.
The mother was momentarily distracted by the kids and the commotion when suddenly, Rayn Kaza, 2, was being led away by a stranger.
"The third time she took her hand, she walked a few steps and I told her, 'What are you doing?'" the mother told CBS2's Steve Langford.
She said the stranger then picked up her little girl and ran down the street.
"I told her, 'Where are you going?' and when I said that she held the girl and she just started to run," the mother said Sunday.
The panicked mother managed to grab her daughter back and snapped a photo of the suspect.
The mother then snapped a cellphone image of the suspect, and security video also caught images of the woman on the corner, watching the gathered children before the grab.
Meanwhile, the family has fled to a relative's home in Connecticut. Omar Kaza said it was the suspect's demeanor that most frightened his wife.
"She was smiling; looks like she's crazy," he said.
There is no good view of the woman's face in any of the images. The neighbors in Bensonhurst, especially those with kids, were rattled.
"You don't know if this is a psychological person or someone with an evil intent," said Phillip Rheinhardt of Bensonhurst. "Me and my wife are concerned -- we have two kids."
There is a school and a playground on 80th Street where the attempted abduction happened, with a constant flow of parents and children. And there was an uneasy sense of anxiety as summer was poised to begin.
Anyone with information was asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS or (888) 57-PISTA for Spanish, log onto the Crime Stoppers website, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and enter TIP577.
