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Tuesday, 5th - 11th September 2017
Child abductor stopped in Torrevieja A local off-duty police officer detained a man who was trying to abduct a little girl in Torrevieja. In the paseo of the Playa del Cura (see image) a man grabbed the girl by the arm whilst she was walking with her grandmother and another member of the family. The incident took place at around 10am as the family, of Eastern European origin, were walking along the beach front. A group of people were immediately alerted by the shouts of the women and the abductor was challenged. Eventually he let go of the little girl and tried to run away but he was brought down by the officer who had been nearby at the time. The man was believed to be about 60 years old and had approached the family group. He then proceeded to grab the little girl by the arm without speaking and begun to run away with her. The shouts of the women attracted the attention of a group of people who were stood by the tourist office whilst waiting to go on an excursion. The co-ordinator of the excursion, confronted the man who was holding the
girl and tried to release her. After a scuffle, the man dropped the girl and started to run. An off-duty police officer was also alerted by the cries and arriving at the scene, ran after the man. After a few metres, next to an ice cream parlour, he
was able to bring him down. The man only asked to be released saying that he hadn’t done anything. The Guardia Civil had been informed following a 112 call made by those waiting to go on the excursion and the
man was taken to the Guardia Civil barracks where he gave a statement. The man who has been arrested suffers from psychological problems. An ambulance attended the scene as the grandmother and other family member were in a state of shock after the event. However, it was not necessary to take them to hospital. The little girl was unharmed. This is the second recent incident of this kind. In August a woman made a denuncia to report the attempted abduction of her son in a park in the city. Social media was full of warnings about this. However, the Guardia Civil have asked that people should not create hysteria or circulate the idea that kidnappings are taking place on every street corner. Unlike The Sun newspaper. They also got hold of the story and published it as a ‘holiday snatch horror’ along with the account of a family staying in Mallorca who had had a similar experience.
Next week the Costa Blanca People will be published on Wednesday rather than Tuesday. So remember to pick up your copy on Wednesday 13th September.
Suzanne O’Connell
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