Sheriff: Neighbor intervened when Pembroke Park man allegedly tried to abduct child
FORT LAUDERDALE - A quick thinking Pembroke Park man is credited with foiling an attempted abduction of a child.
George Pratt, 65, reportedly grabbed the arm of a neighbor's child and allegedly tried to drag him into his apartment on Saturday, authorities said. The Broward County Sheriff's Office arrested Pratt and booked him on suspicion of battery and armed kidnapping.
He was being held on a $75,000 bond. It was not immediately clear Monday evening if he had posted bail or remained in custody.
The alleged abduction took a turn when an alert neighbor saw what was going on and tried to distract Pratt by asking for a beer.
According to investigators, the suspect released his grip on the boy and invited the neighbor into his home. All three went inside.
When the neighbor looked inside of the refrigerator for the beer he realized there was none. That's when he saw Pratt reach to the top of his China cabinet near the front door and grab a gun, according to the arrest report.
The neighbor grabbed Pratt's hand with the gun and pushed it down giving the boy time to run out of the apartment. The neighbor then pushed it away from him and also ran out of the apartment, investigators said.
"Every time I think about it my emotions get up and down," Christopher Williams, the neighbor who intervened, said Monday evening.
Although Williams shied away from being called a hero, the teen's mom, speaking on condition of anonymity, feels otherwise.
He "is my hero because I could have lost my child and he was there," she said.
She said her children, ages 13, 9 and 5, were taking trash to their apartment complex dumpster Saturday when they encountered Pratt.
The suspect gave the youngest children bottles of water but led the teen somewhere else, according to their mother.
Said Williams: "If you're a parent and you pay attention to your kids you just know when something is off."
Williams saw Pratt's arm around the teen and watched until the pair approached Pratt's door.
"The child gave me a look," Williams said. "It was a look of fear. It was a look of terror. So, I instantly knew it was something that I had to do."
That's when Williams asked for a drink, going inside the apartment with the teen and suspect, police said.
"The guy ran and hurried up and closed the door and then he reached up and grabbed a firearm," Williams said.
Williams then grabbed Pratt's gun, restrained him and told the teen to run, according to police.
"Once he got free he came to find me so he could let me know what happened and we called the police from there," the teen's mother said.
Pembroke Park police tweeted a warning that urged awareness in the community to keep children safe.
In the most recent case, the witness happened to be a former cadet at a Tallahassee police academy who never forget his training.
"I have my own son," Williams said. "If my (11-year-old) son was in that predicament I don't care who it is, I would love for someone to intervene and save my son."
