Good Samaritan Beaten After Attempting to Help Lost Toddler Find Parents
 

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...m_npd_nn_fb_nn

A good Samaritan was mistaken for a kidnapper — and beaten by the parents — in a Florida park after trying to help a lost toddler, police said.

The 2-year-old had become separated from her folks during a softball game on Saturday at Southwest Sports Complex in Lakeland, and was spotted by a man at the park with his friends, according to a police incident report published Sunday.

Believing she was lost, the man asked the child where her parents were and walked around the premises with her in hopes she could point them out.

But when the child's father was alerted by bystanders that his daughter was being led away by a stranger, the well-intentioned act was mistaken for a kidnapping attempt.

"I saw this man with my daughter in his hands walking toward the parking lot. What would you do?" the father told NBC affiliate WFLA in a phone interview. "I wanted to kill him!"

Thinking they were stopping a crime, the father and two friends approached the stranger: As his friends took the toddler away, the father punched the good Samaritan "probably five or six times," he told WFLA.

"I thought he was trying to take my daughter," the protective dad told the station.

In a 911 call released to the media, the mother also admits to hitting the man who was with her daughter, and says she did not immediately believe that the incident was simply a misunderstanding.

Lakeland Police, on the other hand, said they were confident that the man was just trying to help the girl.

"An independent witness who didn't know the family or anybody said they saw him pointing out different males saying 'is that your father?'" Lakeland Police Sgt. Gary Gross said in an interview with WFLA.

Police also said the good Samaritan had no prior criminal history and that they were able to verify that he had been at the park with friends.

"It’s understandable how parents can possibly be upset in a situation involving a lost child. However, this incident truly involved a good Samaritan trying to assist a lost child finding their parents," the police report read.

Despite the man's innocence, several posts were published on social media defaming his character. Family and friends of the toddler posted the man's name, photo, and place of employment online, calling him a "child predator."

No charges have been filed against the parents.

When contacted by WFLA, the good Samaritan declined to comment, citing safety concerns and telling reporters he'd left town with his family.

"This guy is a father, a local businessman, has two children, was trying to help this child but they turned it completely around," Gross told the station, "And that's not right."

Still, when asked whether he believed the man's innocence, the child's father said no.

"No, hell no, I don't," he said over the phone, "Not at all."

If the guy was trying to do the right thing, it's a tragedy... I do understand the reaction of the father though.

And this is why no one wants to help out anyone else in this society.

Read about this yesterday as well as some Facebook posts from the family. They fit about every Floridian cliché.

Hey, how bout you keep an eye on your freaking 2 year old!

Shouldn't this be in the Florida news thread?


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Sounds like the dad is mad he made a fool of himself, and is still trying to be right about the situation. Witnesses seem to verify the mans story. Prob should keep a better eye on your 2 year old instead of the softball game.

You understand punching someone five or six times without taking a minute or two to get all the facts?

The $64,000 question - why is their kid running around unsupervised?

Have you never been to a softball game? Or a little league baseball game? Half the parents there just let their kids run around and do whatever. Bunch of ****ing idiots.

Those parents are absolute trash

I was in the mall a couple of years back, and saw a toddler-type kid wandering around. I watched for a few minutes and was pretty sure that the kid was lost, so I did what any reasonable male would do. I kept an eye on her since she was near the exterior doors, but went and told the teenage girl at the Cinnabon to call mall security, staying at least 20 feet from the child at all times.

LMAO

^
Exactamundo.

If they are walking away with my two year old daughter......yes I get it. I'm not justifying it but I get it.

Both sides handled the situation poorly IMO.