Don't try to help a lost child......

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

This is outrageous, but I can remember my dad finding a lost child and not helping him, for this very reason.  He watched that the child did not wander into the road, but waited until a female came out of the store and got her to help.

www.theledger.com/news/20170626/lpd-lakeland-man-helping-lost-2-year-old-find-her-parents-attacked-by-girls-father-2-others

[Opti]

The Dad was a jerk. I wish the man had pressed charges for being assaulted.

[andi9899]

He should have pressed charges. The parents of this child should have been issued a ticket for letting this child wander around. This poor guy was just trying to help.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jun 27, 2017 9:31:18 GMT -5 Opti said:

The Dad was a jerk. I wish the man had pressed charges for being assaulted.

Not only that, someone in the crowd posted the Good Samaritan's name and pic on social media as a pedophile.

[zibazinski]

😡

[TheOtherMe]

And the guy got a ticket for trespassing? 

[NastyWoman]

Really, the child was only out of sight 30-45 seconds and not wandering around?  Color me cynical but I don't believe that for one second (or 30-45 seconds for that matter). Maybe someone should look into what really went here. 

[andi9899]

Jun 27, 2017 10:23:45 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

And the guy got a ticket for trespassing? 

That messed me up. It sounds like a public place where he went to watch a game. How was he trespassing? The other guy physically assaulted him and nothing happened to him. Then he has the balls to tall crap about how the Indian guy gott away with kidnapping. I'm. No. You got away with child neglect and assault. This is just not right. The Indian guy should press charges and sue.

[Rob Base 2.0]

i guess i see it a little different. while the parent overeacted a bit, i don't think the good samaritan should have actually picked the kid up off the ground. that was a bad move IMO

Also, while i could understand the parent beeing somewhat forceful in that sitch, no reason to punch the good samaritan until the facts are sorted out.

[andi9899]

That. And maybe they could have just supervised their child and the whole thing never would have happened. I see letting a tween or older having a bit of freedom, but a 2 yo should be in your sight at all times in a crowded public place. There are too many things that can happen.

[Shooby]

He should have called 911 and reported a lost child.  That would be my advice.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

Hind sight is 20/20. No good deed should go unpunished. 

[bean29]

This story leaves me with some questions.

If the guy was walking around with the girl, asking the little girl if different Men were her Daddy - why weren't there a lot of people to back up the story that this was in fact just what he had done. It sounded like there was only 1 person that saw him do this?

I'm sorry, but if I found a lost child at a baseball game I would look for someone with the ability to make an announcement, security, announcer, or someone who came in contact with a lot of people ie. the concession stand someone else mentioned.

On the parent's part, why was the Man under the impression the little girl was looking for her Daddy and not her Mommy or both Mommy and Daddy?  She was looking for her Daddy...but Daddy was suiting up to play baseball  Did he leave her unattended b/c Mommy had not quite arrived yet?

Since the police did issue some kind of ticket, I assume they wanted to do some additional investigation? idk.

[Shooby]

I agree.  It does sound a bit off.

[chen35]

As a parent, if I can't find my small child (whether my own fault or not), and then find a stranger has picked my child up and is walking away from the crowd I would assume the worst.

[souldoubt]

As a 35 year old male I can't envision ever picking up a random child unless they were in imminent danger, i.e. about to walk into a street, a dog coming near them, etc.  If I saw a child wandering I would start asking individuals in the area if any of them were her parents.  That alone brings it to the attention of others and if none of them were I'd try to get any female in the area to assist because frankly a woman is a lot less threatening to both a child and the child's parents.  If I saw some random person pick up my child, particularly if that person was a man I too would assume the worst.  I'd like to think that I wouldn't get physical but I would be hard pressed to not let my emotions get the better of me.  

[toomuchreality]

Wow.  Just wow.

Some really bad choices were made.

[swamp]

You don't pick up random kids. Squat down to their level to talk and then walk them to security holding their hand.

[formerroomate99]

Jun 27, 2017 21:14:22 GMT -5 swamp said:

You don't pick up random kids. Squat down to their level to talk and then walk them to security holding their hand.

Kid #1 would talk to anyone.   
Kid #2 would loose interest, take off, and end up doing something dangerous.  
    Nothing short of picking him up or having a death grip on his arm would keep him safe.  
    And he'd be screaming and struggling the whole time.  
Kid #3 would be crying but wouldn't run away.  

As a mother of kids who used to run away, I kinda wish people weren't so reluctant to touch a kid.  I once had kid #1 run away while kid #2 was strapped into an unruly stroller.  By the time I got that stupid contraption up some steps, he had disappeared into a department store while at least a dozen people stood by and did nothing.  It took a full 5 minutes to find him.  And yes, if I had known how long it would take to find Kid#1, I would have gotten kid #2 out of the stroller so I could move faster.  Live and learn.  

[Phoenix84]

A few years ago there was a young boy sitting outside my apartment. It was mid to late autumn and it was getting dark. The kid was barefoot and not dressed for the weather in shorts and a t-shirt. I saw him when I went out to eat and didn't say anything but when I came back he was still there and it was dark and getting pretty chilly. I asked if he was alright and if he needed anything and he said he was okay. I decided to give it a bit more time and then call the cops. When I checked back a bit later he was gone.

It did cross my mind that helping him might be a liability. One of the unfortunate parts of being a man.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Jun 27, 2017 17:47:59 GMT -5 chen35 said:

As a parent, if I can't find my small child (whether my own fault or not), and then find a stranger has picked my child up and is walking away from the crowd I would assume the worst.

I can't say that I would not have had the same reaction as the father if I saw someone walking off with my kid.  It would be one of those situations where I am not going to wait to analyze first.  I'd feel awful about it after the fact though.

We picked up a hitchhiker once at the zoo, instead of wandering around with her we stopped and stayed in one location  Sure enough her very stressed out parents came huffing up the hill shortly afterward.  If they had not shown one of us would have gone to get a zoo employee and have them take her to the office so they could page her parents.

DH asked about going to look for her parents but I told him no, if you saw a strange family walking away with your kid how would you react?  

[Virgil Showlion]

Tough call.

It's deeply tragic we don't live in a world where we can be sure any man who picks up our child is simply looking out for them.

[Tennesseer]

We can only make our assumptions what happened based upon the limited information in the story.  

According to the story, the man picked up the girl because she was agitated.  It's possible the man thought the girl my start running away and possibly get hurt in some way.  Based upon the the limited information, not a good idea to pick her up but it happened.

And according to the article, the man was not walking away with the girl but was walking toward the park with her in the direction the girl supposedly pointed out where her dad was.

The man may have asked where her father was based solely on the premise that most of the people in the playground/softball field (dugout) may have appeared to be men in the first place.

Was it a good idea to carry the girl?  No.  Utpal Patel should have looked for a woman to help with the girl if his story is true.  Some witness did describe Utpal Patel as being Indian (south Asian).  I am sure men kidnap little children in India too but maybe Indian men and women also try and help lost little children also with no ill intent.

[swamp]

My DD got lost at a waterpark when she was about 5.

Some lady fed her French fries until I got there.

I didn't assume the lady was trying to poison her.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Another mom helped corral Abby in the library restroom for me.   Abby literally caught me with my pants down.  She slide under the door and made a run for it.  The mom heard me yelling as Abby pulled the door open.  She kept herding Abby back into the restroom telling her she had to stay with her mommy until I could get her.

Even if I had ran out of the stall with my pants around my ankles she would have been out the door and gone before I could catch up.

[swamp]

I've also stopped escaping kids a few times. DH has too. Nobody assumed he was kidnapping their kid.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

DH is always afraid someone will think he is a pervert.   I can see reacting if I saw someone walking by with my kid and it didn't register that they were looking for me.  I'd feel horrible about it afterwards.

I would not post pictures of that person labeling them a pervert, whoever did that wins the Captain Hyperbole award.

[Deleted]

My older son was a runner.  He had absolutely no issues of slipping away from me anywhere even when he was really little.  Zero fear.  We were at a park one time (WITH A LADY FROM SOCIAL SERVICES  ) when he was 2 years old, and that little stinker was just gone.  He had made a beeline across a field and gone into somebody's house.   While the both of us were running around in a panic trying to find him this woman come walking out of her house leading him by the hand.  I was just damned relieved.

He did that to me all the time.  At stores he'd take off and then have me paged.  I would be so mad and he'd put on this sad face and give me the Mommy Dearest act.  "I'm sorry Mommy, I just had to go to the bathroom, please don't be mad at me".   The store owners would look at me like I was evil for yelling at him.  Then two minutes later he was hiding in a clothes rack. 

His brother is 7 and I have to pry him off my leg half the time. 

[Tennesseer]

Jun 28, 2017 14:52:12 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

DH is always afraid someone will think he is a pervert.   I can see reacting if I saw someone walking by with my kid and it didn't register that they were looking for me.  I'd feel horrible about it afterwards.

I would not post pictures of that person labeling them a pervert, whoever did that wins the Captain Hyperbole award.

A Libeling Captain Hyperbole award.

[zibazinski]

Jun 28, 2017 14:54:13 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

My older son was a runner.  He had absolutely no issues of slipping away from me anywhere even when he was really little.  Zero fear.  We were at a park one time (WITH A LADY FROM SOCIAL SERVICES  ) when he was 2 years old, and that little stinker was just gone.  He had made a beeline across a field and gone into somebody's house.   While the both of us were running around in a panic trying to find him this woman come walking out of her house leading him by the hand.  I was just damned relieved.

He did that to me all the time.  At stores he'd take off and then have me paged.  I would be so mad and he'd put on this sad face and give me the Mommy Dearest act.  "I'm sorry Mommy, I just had to go to the bathroom, please don't be mad at me".   The store owners would look at me like I was evil for yelling at him.  Then two minutes later he was hiding in a clothes rack. 

His brother is 7 and I have to pry him off my leg half the time. 

He's lucky you are you.