Chilling footage captures the moment a 12-year-old boy is dragged from his home by a masked man – just minutes after his younger brother was reportedly kidnapped
- CCTV footage showed a boy being dragged from the home
- The younger brother is said to have been kidnapped
Chilling footage has captured the moment a 12-year-old boy was allegedly dragged from his home by a masked man, minutes after his brother was reportedly snatched.
The CCTV footage was taken at a home on Padbury Street in Moora, Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region, at about 4am on Friday.
It shows a masked man in a wig entering through a gate, enters the house, and then re-emerges with a barefoot 12-year-old Fabiano.
Chilling footage captured the moment a 12-year-old boy was dragged from his home by a masked man minutes after his brother was reportedly snatched
The man – reportedly 34-year-old Jonathon Richard Anthony – was seen with one arm around the boy.
But when the man tried to pick him up, Fabiano pushed him off and ran back to the house where he told Brayden Pitkethly – a family friend who lives on the property – what had just happened.
“(Fabiano) was scared and shaking,” Mr. Pitkethly recalled The Western Australian.
The pair then realized that Fabiano’s eight-year-old brother James had gone missing after allegedly being kidnapped moments earlier.
“I ran out and down the street (but) I couldn’t see anyone,” Mr Pitkethly said.
“So I jumped in the car and searched the city until the police got to the house.”
Police began a frantic search for the eight-year-old boy.
James had been missing for nearly three hours when Mr. Pitkethly and Fabiano heard him yell, “I’m here.”
Police found the boy in a nearby house and arrested Anthony.
WA Police Inspector Kareene Santoro said Fabiano’s actions led to the swift resolution of the “deeply traumatic incident.”
“[His]courage and bravery to get himself out of that situation was tremendous, and it was a really good job of him to immediately warn an adult about what happened,” said Inspector Santoro.
The father of the two boys, Steven Uzice, told 7News about the moment he was reunited with his sons
Both children were taken to hospital for a routine medical check-up.
That was told by the father of the two boys, Steven Uzice 7News about the moment he was reunited with his sons.
“I went straight to the police station … and said, ‘Daddy’s here, no one can hurt you now,'” he said.
He was working in Perth, two hours away, when the boys were taken.
“I look at my son and how he fought the man,” Mr. Uzice said of Fabiano. “I’m very proud… of what he’s done.”
WA police arrested Anthony and charged him with two counts of detaining a child under 16, two counts of aggravated burglary, deprivation of liberty, disguise to commit a felony, and criminal damage.
Anthony stood before Northbridge Magistrates Court on Saturday.
He did not apply for bail at the hearing and did not speak or indicate that he understood when his allegations were read to him.
Anthony was taken into custody until his next trial in May.