Frightening Incident

We had a terrifying incident at one of our supermarkets yesterday. A lady was loading groceries into her car while her 17 month old baby sat in the grocery cart when a man came up and grabbed her baby. He demanded $60 to give him back. Thank heavens a good samaritan heard her screaming and came over to help. He offered the man $20 which was refused but he was able to snatch the infant from the man. All did end well with the baby safe and the crazy man arrested but I'll bet it will be a long time before that mother and child will get over their fears.

This supermarket is in a rough part of town and right next to the city jail. I've shopped there occasionally but always been fearful of the creepy looking characters that hang around. The last time I was there a maniacal looking man tried to take hold of my grocery cart and take it to the car for me. That was when I decided it wasn't in my best interests to ever shop at that location again. This latest incident reinforces that decision.

There are certain sections of any city where dangerous characters seem to congregate. Many are dangerous because of drug or alcohol abuse but some are really mentally ill. Their crimes are usually minor disturbances but attempting to kidnap a child as happened yesterday is very out of the ordinary. It makes me wonder where that man got the idea to do such a thing. Do you suppose that the influence of T.V. and movies can also change the criminal behaviour of our street bums?

The man who rescued the baby is also a little out of the ordinary. While many people would try not to get involved and just wait for a policeman to arrive, this young man stepped right in to take care of the situation. It seems that more people are becoming willing to be proactive when dealing with criminals and that's a welcome change. He is a hero, no doubt about it.

As for the offender, I feel sorry for the mental state of any person who would do what he did but I hope he is put away for a long time. If he tried to take a baby for a $60 ransom yesterday, he is capable of doing it again. And maybe next time there won't be a good samaritan handy to stop him.