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You have to be a very special type of stupid to try to abduct a child while hanging out with cops, specially when different race (you can't even try to lie about it).
I think the incident happened during weekend visitation and the father is trying hard to divert attention from the fact he was probably drinking hard, not taking care of his kid and would have driven the kid back probably above the legal limit. He screwed up and is trying to cover it. If I were the Good Samaritan I would press charges for assault and libel against him and his Facebook buddies
A fair theory, actually.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tickyul
I am a very creepy-looking single dude.....there is NO WAY I come within 10 feet of an unaccompanied little kid.
No, I am not a sex-offender, but I do my best to keep at least 10-feet distance from anyone who looks under 18.
Sad, but smart in today's world.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oceangaia
It isn't necessarily nefarious but it's also not very smart to take a small child away from the main hub of activity towards a wooded area next to the parking lot, especially when you clearly have not verified her parents aren't in the crowd and have not enlisted anyone else's help, especially when you have to pick up and carry the child because she does not want to hold your hand and walk with you. Maybe his next step was to put her in his car and drive around town looking for her parents?
Here's a rule of thumb - you don't ever "take" a lost child anywhere. If you cannot find her parents in the immediate vicinity, that is the time to enlist the help of nearby authorities and/or call the police.
Well, we don't know the layout of this place. I mean, technically, if I was walking north someone could say I was walking towards Canada.
"Towards the woods" could be an exaggeration. If the woods were a quarter mile away.. Yeah, he might have been walking towards them, but of course there could have been other things in between, or who knows.
"Towards the woods" could be an exaggeration. If the woods were a quarter mile away.. Yeah, he might have been walking towards them, but of course there could have been other things in between, or who knows.
If you go to street view on the map that oceangaia posted, you can see that the playground is under trees, but it's by no means a wooded area where someone could do something unnoticed: https://goo.gl/maps/tVLhbQXeiTv
That's awful! The guy was paying WAY more attention to your child than you were! I hope the man sues. First he gets punched several times and now people are saying complete untruths about him online. I'm not a sue happy person, but this really is uncalled for. Going onto Facebook or whatever to post his picture and make up stories is insane. Stop trying to hide your incompetence as a parent! If they spent as much time watching their 2 year old as they do on Facebook, she wouldn't have gotten lost.
If you go to street view on the map that oceangaia posted, you can see that the playground is under trees, but it's by no means a wooded area where someone could do something unnoticed: https://goo.gl/maps/tVLhbQXeiTv
Great pic. That area right in front of the playground is where cars park. The two are directly adjacent. My point wasn't that he might "do something" in the woods but that taking her to the playground was essentially the same as taking her to the parking lot. If you're trying to take someone and you can get her to the playground from the ballfields, you've got her. At that distance, no one is going to recognize you or hear you shout.
I'm not convicting the guy. I'm just not ready to acquit because he had a plausible explanation when he didn't behave as I think most rational persons should or would behave.
Well, I would have steered clear away from taking the child in my hands and I'm a woman. Definitely help find the parents, but in my opinion taking the child's hand was a big no-no. Not necessary (keeping an eye on her would have been sufficient), and honestly I would have come to the same conclusion as the girl's father did if I saw a middle-aged man holding my daughter's hand and walking in the parking lot. It would have totally freaked me out. So, I give the man credit for good intention but it was a wrong way to go about doing it.
Well, I would have steered clear away from taking the child in my hands and I'm a woman. Definitely help find the parents, but in my opinion taking the child's hand was a big no-no. Not necessary (keeping an eye on her would have been sufficient), and honestly I would have come to the same conclusion as the girl's father did if I saw a middle-aged man holding my daughter's hand and walking in the parking lot. It would have totally freaked me out. So, I give the man credit for good intention but it was a wrong way to go about doing it.
Not just hold her hand. The little girl tried to get away so he picked her up in his arms and was carrying her.
"According to the report, Patel took the girl by the hand and asked her whether each man was “her daddy.” After telling Patel no many times, the young girl became agitated and tried to pull away. Fearing for her safety, Patel told police that he picked the girl up and began walking in the direction the young girl initially pointed, walking toward a playground, between 50 and 75 yards from where she was first located."
The father still does not believe the "good samaritan" story.
Strickland disputes the claim that his daughter was wandering. Strickland, who was playing one of many softball games Saturday, said that from the time he saw her last to the time he noticed she was gone could not have been more than 30 or 45 seconds.
“I don’t know (Patel’s) intent,” he said. “Our kid was not wandering around the park. It was not long enough for me to slide my shoes off and put the cleats on that she was gone.”
In the report, Strickland told police that it was suspicious that Patel would be walking toward the playground because everyone at the playground was black and that he and his daughter are white. At the request of the city of Lakeland, Patel was issued a trespass warning.
Strickland told The Ledger on Monday that he would have preferred Patel take his daughter to a concession stand or some place with a speaker where he could have been called. Kaydence, he said, is safe and unfazed by the incident. Strickland said he doesn’t regret the actions that he took.
Great pic. That area right in front of the playground is where cars park. The two are directly adjacent. My point wasn't that he might "do something" in the woods but that taking her to the playground was essentially the same as taking her to the parking lot. If you're trying to take someone and you can get her to the playground from the ballfields, you've got her. At that distance, no one is going to recognize you or hear you shout.
I'm not convicting the guy. I'm just not ready to acquit because he had a plausible explanation when he didn't behave as I think most rational persons should or would behave.
1) Speculation about stuff like this with absolutely zero proof is unsavory at best.
2) One would think that the fact that he came to the game with 3 police officer friends would logically register as not the type of thing a "potential abductor" would do and would end such speculation.
“I don’t know (Patel’s) intent,” he said. “Our kid was not wandering around the park. It was not long enough for me to slide my shoes off and put the cleats on that she was gone.”
In the report, Strickland told police that it was suspicious that Patel would be walking toward the playground because everyone at the playground was black and that he and his daughter are white. At the request of the city of Lakeland, Patel was issued a trespass warning.
Strickland told The Ledger on Monday that he would have preferred Patel take his daughter to a concession stand or some place with a speaker where he could have been called. Kaydence, he said, is safe and unfazed by the incident. Strickland said he doesn’t regret the actions that he took.
The other story didn't have either party's name, but now I wonder, with a name like Patel, if there wasn't some kind of prejudice happening. This wasn't just any guy trying to help, it was an Indian guy, a brown guy, and in today's climate there could be some bias about that.
1) Speculation about stuff like this with absolutely zero proof is unsavory at best.
2) One would think that the fact that he came to the game with 3 police officer friends would logically register as not the type of thing a "potential abductor" would do and would end such speculation.
No more speculation than it is him being a "good samaritan".
So where were these 3 cops? He obviously wasn't with them when he found the girl. Why didn't he take the girl to them since they would be far better trained and prepared to handle it?
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