Mother thwarts attempted abduction of young girl; man charged

By News Staff

A 39-year-old man has been charged after he allegedly tried to abduct a young girl outside a store in Scarborough.

Police were called to a plaza near Warden and Eglinton avenues just before 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

They say a man walked into a Marshalls store, built an altar using items on the shelves, harassed a four-year-old girl, and then went outside and attempted to grab her as she left with her family. Police say the mother fought back and prevented the child from being taken.

“This one guy, he followed my daughter,” the woman said. “I didn’t know what’s going on. He just said, ‘I want to take her. I’m going to take her. I love her.’

“He said, ‘I’m sick. I’m not normal. I’m sick.’ He kept saying that … I was so scared, you know. Everybody was screaming, running away.”

The child, who was with two other siblings, was not injured.

Toronto police said the man tried to talk to the girl inside the store. As the family was leaving, they noticed the man waiting outside. Store security escorted the family to their vehicle but that did not deter the man: He allegedly ran towards the family and attempted to grab the girl from her mother’s arms.

He was arrested a short distance away.

Just before the alleged incident, police said the man went into a Canadian Tire store, grabbed cans of spray paint and vandalized the floor there.

The man, Tyrone Bartley, 39, of Pickering, was arrested and charged with abduction of a person under 14 years, assault, and mischief under $5,000.

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