Police Charge Homeless Man With Attempted Abduction of Girl
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Police arrested a homeless man yesterday for the attempted abduction of a 5-year-old Bronx girl on Wednesday.
Carlos Negron, 50, was charged with attempted kidnapping and criminal trespassing for entering P.S.33, the Timothy Dwight School, on Jerome Avenue, where he tried to snatch the girl from the school’s cafeteria, police said. Police said they released a sketch of the man shortly before taking him into custody.
A day after the attempted abduction, police manned school exits and increased local patrol, while school administrators scheduled meetings with parents slated for Friday to reaffirm its security measures.
Parents expressed little faith. “They should never have let him go,” said an aunt of the girl who was nearly abducted, Maria del Carmen Cruz. “The system is not working. Not only are they taking education from our children, they’ve taken security,” she said. “Wake up and smell the coffee, Mr. Mayor.”
Mr. Negron entered the school at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, and grabbed the girl in the cafeteria, claiming to be her father, police said. The girl cried out, alerting a school aide, who challenged the man and prompted his retreat. Police said witnesses heard the man say he had made a mistake as he left. In a letter to parents dated yesterday, school officials outlined existing security standards, which include requiring parents to show photo identification and sign a visitors’ log when entering the school. One parent, Axel Nelson, 33, said he previously has entered the school unchecked and that no one has stopped him. Mr. Nelson said he expected security to diminish once the investigation was completed.
Other parents and neighbors said the incident indicated a larger problem with Bronx public schools.
“These are some of the last schools to get funded in terms of school supplies and now security,” a neighbor who lives on Davidson Avenue, Christian Saltos, 30, said. Mr. Saltos said he plans to send his daughter to Catholic school when she starts kindergarten next year, partially because of Wednesday’s abduction attempt.
The schools chancellor, Joel Klein, told reporters yesterday that safety administrators were visiting the school to examine its safety. “This is something that shouldn’t have happened,” he said.
