Police: Man Claims Woman Pushing Dead Baby, Tries To Abduct 20-Month-Old Child In Woodmere
WOODMERE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A man who told a woman she was "pushing a dead baby" and then tried to abduct the child in Nassau County has been arrested, according to police.
Craig Myczkowski, 44, faces several charges including attempted unlawful imprisonment, endangering the welfare of a child, burglary and other charges, Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Richard LeBrun said.
The incident happened Monday around 12:15 p.m. in Woodmere.
Police said a the 65-year-old babysitter was pushing a 20-month-old child in a stroller on West Broadway when a man walked up and said she was "pushing a dead baby."
"He stopped in my way and he did not let me go," said the babysitter, Alla Alexandrova. "He said absolutely terrible things"
The sitter tried to get away, but the man followed her, saying he needed to take the baby, police said.
The sitter was able to make it back home and locked the doors, but police said the suspect got in through an unlocked mud room and tried to open the locked kitchen door.
Investigators said he yelled "give me the dead baby" before he left, taking the empty stroller with him. The stroller was later found on the side of The Pizza Place on Broadway in Hewlett, police said.
The suspect was seen on surveillance inside the restaurant.
"My cameras caught him all around," the owner of the pizza shop told CBS2's Andrea Grymes. "Wheeling a carriage, wrapping something up like something was in there."
Police arrested Myczkowski Tuesday morning down the block from the pizza place inside an office building. LeBrun said police responded to a call of a suspicious person found sleeping on a couch in a doctor's office.
"Police were able to identify defendant Myczkowski as the subject who had attempted to abduct the 20-month-old baby yesterday and he was arrested without incident at the scene," he said.
"My wife's boss' office was the one broken into," Hewlett resident Armando Conforme said. "I think he broke into the office, slept through the night there."
Police the incoherent Myczkowski was taken to a hospital for mental health evaluation. Police are unsure if Myczkowski's choice to post up in a psychotherapist's office was a cry for help, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported.
Myczkowski, who is from the Lower East Side, is now undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
The sitter and the child were uninjured. LeBrun said the woman did the right thing when confronted by the suspect.
"She did a great job," he told reporters, including WCBS 880's Sophia Hall. "She was encountered by someone she hadn't seen before who made a very threatening statement and she went back to her residence, she locked the doors."
The incident left many area residents on edge.
"That's scary, especially with two kids," said resident Shannon Farrell.
"That's insane," resident Rita Levine said. "I'm in this area for 25 years -- very scary. Very scary."
Police said Myczkowski will be arraigned as soon as medically practical.
