Mother Shaken After Attempted Child Abduction At Long Island Mall
VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Police on Long Island are looking for a woman in connection with an attempted child abduction at a mall.
As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported, Kristen Powers brought her 18-month-old child to Green Acres Mall for holiday shopping, but when the Oceanside mother got inside the Kohl's department store, she realized her son needed a diaper change.
Powers said she received the shock of her life when she went inside the store's bathroom.
"She took his arm, he pulled away and then I went like (demonstrates grabbing)," said Powers, who didn't want her face shown on TV.
Powers, a registered nurse, said she fears the stranger -- a woman in her mid-40s -- appeared to follow them into the bathroom in order to snatch her child.
"She put her hand on his forearm, and as soon as she did that, I pushed her hand away and she said 'give me the baby' again, a second time," Powers said. "(McLogan: She said it twice, in English?) In English, with an accent."
Powers said she managed to run from the bathroom with her son in her arms, fumbling with her belongings.
"I happened to run into an officer who was in Kohl's as part of holiday security," Powers said. "He was Nassau County, he was extremely helpful. He put a call out, within three minutes there were eight police officers there."
Police said surveillance video shows the suspect hung around for a while before leaving with a man in a livery cab.
"This female was described as about 5'5", long blonde hair, she had a blue jacket on, a yellow shirt; she had a multicolored skirt on with stockings," said Nassau County Police Chief Kevin Smith. "The video was kind of grainy. We are trying to decipher that."
"I am safe now. The baby is safe, but I am afraid if they had an intention on taking him, would they take another child?" said Powers.
Authorities said the suspect left behind DNA evidence in the bathroom.
Nassau investigators said it is possible the woman was drunk or on drugs, emotionally disturbed or it was possibly a misunderstanding due to a language barrier.
Investigators ask that anyone with information regarding the incident to contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-8477.