Palm Beach Gardens, FL– The suspect, who is 37 years old, was taken into custody after reportedly attempting to abduct a youngster from a playground.
It was reported that the event took occurred on Sunday afternoon at the playground located at the San Merano at Mirasol residential complex.
At around 7 o’clock in the evening, the child’s mother was at the playground with her daughter, age 8, and her son, age 4, when an unknown guy who was shirtless seized her boy. The mother informed the authorities that she saw the man do it.
The child’s sister tried to rescue her brother, but the suspect forced her head down, causing her to cry. The suspect then released the child’s brother.
The youngster was finally liberated, and the suspect made an effort to flee the scene after being intimidated by a number of other parents who were there who said they would contact the police.
Lee Hurley, a neighbor who was out walking his dogs at the time, claims that he heard the victim’s sister screaming, which prompted him to intervene.
“The individual had attempted to flee the park when, you know, he was informed that the police were on their way. He came up to me and made an attempt to strike me by taking a defensive position. Therefore, I had to beat him in order to put him down,” Hurley explained.
Reporters heard from a number of witnesses who stated that the man was without a shirt and shoes, was stumbling around, and was talking to himself.
“It was obvious that something was wrong,” she said. According to a local citizen named Lee Hurley, the man was behaving in an extremely hostile manner toward the children.
Before being brought into custody by the police, the suspect, who has now been revealed to be a local citizen named Joseph Gibson, was first sent to a local hospital for medical care.