Man arrested for allegedly trying to kidnap girls behind Swansea Target
SWANSEA - A man has been arrested for allegedly trying to lure two 13-year-old girls into his car behind a Target store on Thursday afternoon. Swansea police said 60-year-old Michael Nutbrown of Somerset is charged with attempted kidnapping.
The father of one of the girls, who did not want to be identified, told WBZ she is terrified. "She came home, she was all scared," the father said.
Police say Nutbrown allegedly approached the girls as they walked down a bicycle path on Milford Road behind the Target store, asking them if they wanted a ride.
"Walking home from junior high to Target, to just do kids' stuff. Go shopping or whatever, McDonald's, and a man approached them asking them to get in the car," the father said.
After telling the man no twice, the girls ran inside Target. Surveillance cameras captured the man getting out of the car.
"It looks like he was clearing out the backseat too and putting his stuff in the trunk," the father said. Investigators believe he did this to make room for the girls.
A brazen move, this father says, trying to lure two young girls into a car in broad daylight near a busy shopping center.
"It's an easy spot probably to take someone because there's kids everywhere and everything like that," the father said.
He's glad his daughter and her friend ran to safety but says it's definitely a wakeup call. "It's really alarming you know," the father said. "She goes every weekend, and I usually don't think much of it. It's alarming."
Swansea police identified Nutbrown through their investigation and arrested him on Friday afternoon. Nutbrown is expected to be arraigned on Monday in Fall River District Court.