WA - Boy Snatched By Man In Gorilla Suit

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ajc2804

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**video at link**


LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- A Spanaway, Wash., family is considering legal action against Lakewood, Wash., police for releasing a man in a gorilla suit who allegedly grabbed their 5-year-old son at a store.

Police are asking for the public’s help in tracking down the man.


The boy's parents said they are enraged by the way police handled the case at a supermarket on Aug. 2, when the man snatched the boy and fled.


Anthony and April Santiago heard their son screaming and chased down the man and held him for police.


When Lakewood police officers arrived, the man said it was a joke. Police accepted the man's explanation that it was a prank and they let him go.



Crimestoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the man and filing of charges. The phone number is 253-591 5959.

http://www.wjactv.com/news/10120656/detail.html


edited by DP due to copyright infringement.
 
The parents deserve to be outraged! I would be too.


Hoppy
 
WTF? How could they just let the guy go?? He took a little boy and tried to run with him. He committed KIDNAPPING. Is that not a felony anymore?
 
Wow, incompetence at its finest!
 
Are you kidding me? How is that a joke? I wonder when he would have decided to put down the kid if they parents hand't tackled him and held him down for police?
 
I'm speechless. In this day and age where children go missing every single day, where their tiny bodies are found abandoned on the side of the road, the police didn't even bother to get this guy's identification?

What would have happened had the parents not chased the "gorilla" down? The police officers are naive at best and stupid at worst. God help the children of that area.
 
:eek: :doh: :bang: :furious: OMG! I hope those cops are busted down to deskwork until they are taught just what *IS* a crime. Yes, that's felony kidnapping since he took a child against the child's will, (as evidenced by his screams) and physically moved them elsewhere in the store. This varies by state, some states have laws that say if you move the child to a different room in a house you are burgling you committed kidnapping, while others aren't that strict if I recall correctly. That poor kid, I hope his parents take him to a counselor if needed, which it probably will be.
 
A joke? This guys actions are unthinkable. He needs to be found and investigated.
 
Beyond Belief said:
A joke? This guys actions are unthinkable. He needs to be found and investigated.
Click to expand...

And horse whipped. JMO.
 
So, because this guy was dressed in a Gorilla suit, it's all fun and games?? You've got to be kidding! What a load of you-know-what!!
 
He wouldn't have been able to have been identified in that gorilla suit. The police in that town are idiots.
 
txsvicki said:
He wouldn't have been able to have been identified in that gorilla suit. The police in that town are :loser: idiots.
Click to expand...

OMG, they should write to the governor and demand answers...
 
I didn't realize this was 2 months ago that it happened. They just started looking for him after the family's complaint? Or am I reading it wrong?

Wonder what other "jokes" he's pulled in the meantime.
 
That's how I'm reading it too - 2 months ago and of course, police did nothing until the parents filed suit. At the time, they didn't even confirm the guy's ID - he could have been a sex offender, murderer on parole, anything.

It seems that the joke is "escaped gorilla" since the store used to keep one. Regardless, police should have arrested him and let the DA sort out the facts while the guy sat in a jail for a while to think about his stupid actions. If it appeared it really was a joke, let him spend a little time in jail, pay a big fine, and make sure he won't do it again. The way the cops handled it - what's to stop him again?

BTW - I would say the parents showed a good amount of restraint in just holding him down. I'm not sure he would have been able to explain anything to the cops if he'd grabbed my daughter.
 
Ang50 said:
That's how I'm reading it too - 2 months ago and of course, police did nothing until the parents filed suit. At the time, they didn't even confirm the guy's ID - he could have been a sex offender, murderer on parole, anything.

It seems that the joke is "escaped gorilla" since the store used to keep one. Regardless, police should have arrested him and let the DA sort out the facts while the guy sat in a jail for a while to think about his stupid actions. If it appeared it really was a joke, let him spend a little time in jail, pay a big fine, and make sure he won't do it again. The way the cops handled it - what's to stop him again?

BTW - I would say the parents showed a good amount of restraint in just holding him down. I'm not sure he would have been able to explain anything to the cops if he'd grabbed my daughter.
Click to expand...

I agree with you that it should have been up to the DA to sort out the facts. The police really fell down on the job.

Those parents did show restraint. If it were any of my children, he would have suffered mightily while waiting for the police to arrive.
 
This was no joke! I watched the video and as far as I can see, this was an abduction! He grabbed that poor child and ran. I can just imagine what went throught the dad and mom's mind as they chased after him. Thank goodness he was caught. I don't even want to think of what he might have done to this precious child. I agree w/ Ang50, I'm afraid the police would have had to scrape this creep's face from the floor if he dared to touch my child.
 
LAKEWOOD, Wash. -- A 19-year-old man who was wearing a gorilla costume when he allegedly grabbed a 5-year-old boy in a Washington state store last summer turned himself in Friday, police said.



The man told police that the incident at the Lakewood grocery store was a prank. He faces possible charges of unlawful imprisonment, Seattle TV station KIRO reported.



Surveillance cameras caught pictures of a man in a gorilla costume snatching a boy and fleeing. The boy's father chased the man and caught him, but when Lakewood police officers arrived, they accepted the man’s explanation that it was a prank.



The boy's parents said they are enraged by the way police handled the case at a supermarket on Aug. 2, when the man allegedly snatched the boy and fled.



Anthony and April Santiago heard their son screaming and chased down the man and held him for police.



When Lakewood police officers arrived, the man said it was a joke. Police accepted the man's explanation that it was a prank and they let him go.



"I'm absolutely irate, and I am just as irate at the police for not doing their job as I am at the person that committed this crime," said April Santiago, the boy's mother.



On Thursday, Lakewood police released a photo of the man and asked for the public's help in finding him.



"The mistake that they (the officers) did make was to not get hard identification," said Lakewood police Lt. Dave Guttu. "They didn't verify his identification."



At the time of the incident, officers did not write a report or check the false name the man gave, the boy's parents said.
http://www.wjactv.com/news/10138627/detail.html
 
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