Police: Mom Who Believed Man Was Trying To Abduct Daughter May Have 'Overreacted'

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BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. (AP) - Police in West Virginia say a woman now says she might have misinterpreted an incident when she reported that a man was trying to abduct her 5-year-old daughter at a mall.

News outlets report the woman told police Monday that she stopped the man by pulling out a gun.

Police said the prosecutor was working Tuesday to either release 54-year-old Mohamed Fathy Hussein Zayan of Alexandria, Egypt, or amend the charges.

The criminal complaint said a woman was shopping at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville when a man grabbed her child by the hair. Police said Tuesday that inconsistencies were discovered, and the mother eventually said she might have misjudged the man's actions and overreacted to his touching the child's head.

Jail records don't indicate whether Zayan has an attorney.

(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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