Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Man tries to snatch child, 4
A 24-YEAR-old man appeared in court yesterday for allegedly assaulting a child he tried to snatch as she sat with her mother at a restaurant on the West Rand.
According to Gauteng Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Kay Makhubele, the child’s mother told police that she was with her 4-year-old daughter at a pizza shop in Florida on Thursday afternoon when the suspect appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the child across a table.
“The mother screamed and the child also screamed. With the help of the shop owner and other patrons, the suspect was apprehended,” Makhubele said.
Video footage of the incident circulated on social media yesterday.
Makhubele said the man appeared at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court. At this stage, he faces a charge of assault but investigations would establish if there were further charges to be brought.
In the video, the child can be seen seated with two women in the outdoor section of the restaurant.
The suspect, who approaches running, jumps over the barrier fence and heads straight for the child. He grabs her and pulls her towards him. One of the women reaches over the table to get the child, landing on the table.
A man moves towards the suspect and grabs him with the child caught in the middle.
The suspect lets go of the child and the man wrestles him to the ground. More people arrive.
Footage also shows the man lying on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back with blood on his face.
He prays in Arabic and point starts screaming.
at some