Boy says man tried to abduct him at park

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County father said his son is shaken but OK after a man tried to abduct him at a local park.

The incident happened over the weekend at Mountain Park.

The family told Channel 2’s Tony Thomas the park was very busy Sunday, with a big tournament going on. The boy said the man tried to grab him twice, but he got away both times.

As Joey Hamilton coached a student Thursday, he tried to keep an eye on his 6-year-old Tristan. Not an easy task.

Hamilton was on high alert after hearing about the attempted abduction Sunday.

The 8-year-old and his father told park authorities the boy was walking from the batting cages to his dad near Field 2 when a strange man approached.

“He approached the young man and grabbed his arm and told him to come with him. The young man was obviously alarmed; he did manage to pull away,” said Tom Taylor with the Mountain Park Athletic Association.

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The child said the man grabbed his backpack but the boy was able to pull away and run to his dad, who later reported the incident to police.

The father didn't want to bring attention to his family by doing an interview but emailed a statement that said, in part, “after describing the man to me I went to find him, but was unable to locate him.”

“It's a scary situation,” Hamilton said.

Taylor told Thomas that officials are trying to make sure this doesn't happen again.

“We are talking with the kids about buddy systems, no one goes anywhere without a parent or a buddy, we are talking about safe words,” Taylor said.

For Hamilton, it's a good reminder.

“It just goes to show, you can't take your eyes off your kids at any moment,” Hamilton said.

The 8-year-old described the suspect to police as a Hispanic man in his late 40s or early 50s with hair down to the back of his neck.

Gwinnett police have assigned a detective to look into the incident.

Cox Media Group