HOUSTON, Texas – Houston police are looking for a man who they said attempted to kidnap a 7-year-old child from his backyard in northwest Houston.
On June 27, around 11:15 a.m., Houston police officers said a man in his 30s attempted to take the child on Bethlehem Street but was unsuccessful.
“Not only was it our own backyard, it’s a gated backyard. It’s not like there was easy access,” the boy’s mother, who didn’t want to be identified, told KPRC 2.
The boy had been playing baseball in the backyard, she said, and hit a whiffle ball into the driveway. He went to retrieve it, and once back inside the secure gate, the stranger walked up to the gate, reached through, and tried to lift the boy over it.
“My son then realized that he was in danger and started hitting the man and he dropped him,” his mother said. “I couldn’t believe it was real.”
They called 911 and the man took off in a light blue SUV or hatchback-style vehicle with a silver or light rack on top, Houston police said.
The man has since been described as about 30 years old, over 6 feet tall, with blonde hair and a tattoo of a queen on his arm.
The attempted abduction happened near schools and a community park, in what the boy’s mother described as a quiet and family-oriented neighborhood.
“We had zero cameras that day,” his mother said. “But now, I have all the cameras in the world.”
Crime Stoppers may pay up to $5,000 for information leading to the location and arrest of the suspects featured. Information may be reported by calling 713-222-TIPS (8477), submitted online at www.crime-stoppers.org or through the Crime Stoppers mobile app. All tipsters remain anonymous.
