Man snatches ‘scared’ 9-year-old at Waffle House, then mom grabs a broom, TN cops say
A stop for dinner at a Waffle House resulted in an attempted kidnapping when a stranger tried to take a 9-year-old boy from his family, Tennessee police said.
Now, a 30-year-old man faces multiple charges — including attempted kidnapping of a minor — after grabbing the boy at about 9:20 p.m. on Sunday, March 3, inside a Nashville Waffle House, according to a Davidson County arrest affidavit obtained by McClatchy News. The boy’s family stopped the man from taking the 9-year-old, then the suspect fled, officials said.
When the man entered the restaurant, he appeared to be looking for a bathroom, a Waffle House employee told officers, according to the affidavit. Then, he began throwing chairs and yelling, the employee said.
The boy’s family was eating dinner inside the Waffle House when the commotion began, his mother said in the affidavit. The man moved toward the family and grabbed the boy “in a bear hug” to try to kidnap him, according to the mother.
He pulled on the boy’s arms to yank him away, but the mother snatched her son back, the worker told officers. She grabbed a broom and stood between the man and her son to defend him, the employee said.
The woman’s husband shoved the man outside of the restaurant while other employees shouted at him to leave, according to the affidavit.
Two other Waffle House employees provided similar statements about what occurred during the attempted kidnapping, police said.
The mother and her son told officers they had never met the man, according to the affidavit. Her son reported feeling “scared and did not know what was happening,” police said.
The boy also told officers he felt chest pain after the incident, and he was soon cleared by emergency medical responders on the scene, authorities said.
Officers located the suspect nearby that night and tried to take him into custody, but when they attempted to put his hands behind his back, he resisted, officials said. When officers took him to their patrol car and tried to sit him inside, he pushed his legs out to stop them from closing the door, authorities said.
After the initial struggle, officers secured the man inside the car with “empty-hand techniques,” according to officials.
He was charged with attempted kidnapping of a victim under 13, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct, according to the affidavit.
The man was booked March 3 at the Nashville Downtown Detention Center and is not eligible for release, according to jail records. He is being held under a combined bond of $78,000 between his three charges, jail records show.
