Moment female stranger is arrested ‘after trying to snatch toddler who was playing in his garden’

A Florida woman has been taken into custody for allegedly trying to grab a three-year-old boy from his backyard.

Pamela Monsalve, 39, was arrested on kidnapping charges after she was accused of reaching over a fence and scooping up the child while he was playing outside his Hallandale Beach home on Nov. 25.

According to an arrest report, vigilant neighbors witnessed Monsalve trying to kidnap the child and called police.

She allegedly ran away with the child when concerned neighbors swarmed her and began questioning her about what she was doing, the report said.

One witness even took a photo of Monsalve at the scene and informed the child’s mother NBC6

Within seconds of noticing the neighbors’ alarm, Monsalve put the child down and let him run back to his mother.

But while witnesses claim she was trying to kidnap the toddler, Monsalve told responding officers she was saving the boy instead.

On police camera footage the suspect can be heard saying: ‘He was outside, he was naked. Everything was naked and I asked the people around to call the police, but no one wanted to call the police. And I said to the little boy, “Where’s your mother?” and he said no.”

When an officer asked, “Where is the little boy now?”, she replied, “Well, they were… I got the little boy and everyone said, ‘Don’t get the little boy,’ and I gave him back to the mother.’

She also didn’t seem to remember where she found the child.

When she asked where the playground was, she told the officer, “Near the…outside the…the…outside the…when the mother came out, I gave it back.”

But officers shot down her explanation, noting there was no connection between the family and the suspect.

Officials also indicated she went too far when she removed him from his yard.

‘Make sure you pay attention to your children and your environment, make sure you know your neighbors and that your neighbors know you.

“This is an example of ‘know thy neighbor’ and those neighbors were able to help prevent this child from being taken permanently,” Chief Megan Jones of the Hallandale Beach Police Department said of the incident.

She was initially taken into custody on charges of confining a child under 13 without parental consent.

But a judge found probable cause for a kidnapping charge during a later court appearance and ordered Monsalve held without bond.

During her court appearance on December 3, prosecutors said: “I cannot imagine what action could cause more extreme fear and anxiety in a parent than when someone, not knowing who, enters their property, takes their fenced property and takes away their belongings. 3 year old child.’

At one point, Monsalve tried to make a statement but was shot down by her lawyer and reminded by the judge that anything she says could be used against her “in the future and everything will be recorded,” according to WSVN.

At the end of the hearing, her bail application was rejected and she was ordered to have no contact with the victim, not to return to the scene of the crime, not to have any contact with minors and not to possess any firearms, weapons or ammunition.

Monsalve is currently being held in the Broward County Jail and is expected to appear before another judge at a later date.

It comes months after surveillance footage showed the moment a predator stalked a young girl and tried to grab her before a brave neighbor intervened.

The episode took place in Wilmington, Los Angeles, when an 11-year-old girl was walking home from school.

The man was seen crossing the street and following the young girl before cornering her against a wall.

Police said he groped the girl as she tried to break free, but when he put his arm around her in an apparent attempt to grab her, a neighbor saw the crime in action.

As soon as the witness screamed across the street, the alleged child thief immediately turned around and walked back across the street, realizing he was being watched.

It gave the girl just enough time to escape, neighbor Yolanda Garcia said ABC7 that she was grateful that someone was in the right place at the right time.

“Who knows what would have happened,” she said.

“Knowing that I was sitting here watching TV, and I didn’t mind knowing that something was going on in front of my house… it’s scary.

“I think he chose to do it when the kids came home from school, it’s unbelievable.” The footage showed the man crossing the street again after the interruption, and he immediately claimed that the young girl was his ‘niece’.