NYC Crime: Man arrested, community in turmoil after attempted kidnapping in Crown Heights, Brooklyn

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) — A 28-year-old man is under arrest and a family and community are trying to calm their nerves after an attempted kidnapping in Brooklyn that appears to have no explanation.

The man can be seen tearing the six-year-old boy from his father so hard that his feet are off the ground – but the boy’s father never lost his footing.

It happened Friday as father and son were on their way to a Shabbat gathering in front of multiple cameras on a block of Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights. The boy’s mother says the strangest thing about it is that the suspect is her neighbor. They’ve seen him before and say he never said or did anything unusual.

“He always held the door, he was always nice,” the mother said.

She says she heard from neighbors that there was something else going on with the 28-year-old suspect and that he was having a bad day. She says members of the Jewish community are already angered by a citywide increase in anti-Semitic incidents since October 7 last year.

“I don’t think it was a hate crime, but it was scary. It was like a scary incident. Living in New York, you don’t expect someone to attack a six-year-old and take away his parents,” she adds.

The mother says she is proud of her husband and son because they held on to each other and didn’t let go. She says her little boy will get therapy and her family hopes justice will be served in court.

The 28-year-old, identified as Stephen Sowe, is charged with attempted kidnapping, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child.

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