The mom of a three-year-old girl who was almost abducted by a homeless man in the Bronx Monday afternoon said she doesn't want the suspect to go to prison and that he is 'not mentally OK.'
The mom, who didn't want to be identified, said in an interview with ABC7NY that she wanted the kidnapper, who was arrested and identified as Santiago Salcedo, 27, 'to get help. I don't want him to go to jail because he's not mentally OK.'
The incident was captured in shocking video from the front of a BP gas station and shows three children walking with their grandma.
Salcedo crosses the road and walks towards the group. In an instant, he suddenly wraps the girl in a blanket and runs off with her much to the horror of the other kids.
The 65-year-old woman immediately chases him. 'She saw him coming closer and she thought that he would want to ask for money, so that's why she wasn't fully aware of what can happen,' the child's mom told CBS News on Tuesday.
'The kids are OK. Thank god they're still too young to fully understand or grasp what happened.'
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The three-year-old girl is OK because of brave good Samaritans, two men and two women.
Fermin Bracero, 63, who works at the BP was chased down the suspect. He told DailyMail.com on Tuesday that he was sweeping the sidewalk when he saw Salcedo wrap a blanket around the young girl and take off.
He thought it was a joke, but then realized it wasn't a family prank and chased the suspect. Another man and two women who were pumping gas joined the pursuit.
A homeless man tried to abduct a little girl walking with her grandmother in the Bronx in broad daylight on Monday
The man wrapped the little girl in a comforter and snatched her from the sidewalk
The mom of girl, 3, who was nearly abducted in the Bronx on Monday speaks to a reporter on Tuesday. She missed to remain anonymous
Bracero told DailyMail.com that the suspect let the girl go, and didn't say anything to the four. He simply walked away and went across the street.
'He didn't say nothing. He just stood there looking at us. He stood there for a while. I was still thinking, "Is this real?"' Bracero told DailyMail.com.
He said Salcedo finally took off on an electric scooter before it 'quit on him' and then he ran off. NYPD officers later found him asleep in a nearby doorway and arrested him.
Salcedo was charged with kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child.
He was seen laughing and smiling as he was escorted out of the 45th Precinct in the Bronx and in the back of the police car
The Bronx District Attorney's Office told DailyMail.com at 11am that Salcedo hadn't been arraigned, but was expected to be later Tuesday.
After the three-year-old girl was saved, the Bracero turned his attention to the hysterical family.
There were three children - including the young girl - their grandma. Their mom and dad also arrived.
'They were screaming and crying. I just told them there's a bench in the gas station and to sit down. I gave the kids lollipops,' Bracero said.
He described the neighborhood where he lives and works as close-knit and quiet. He felt uncomfortable being called a hero and said it was a collaborative effort.
Salcedo was charged with kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child. He was seen laughing and smiling as he was escorted out of the 45th Precinct in the Bronx and in the back of the police car
Police caught Santiago Salcedo, 27, later in the day sleeping in the doorway of a nearby business and was seen grinning as he was charged on Monday night. He was charged with kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and child endangerment
Fermin Bracero, 63, who works at the BP gas station was one of the heroes who chased down the suspect. After the girl was safe, he told DailyMail.co, 'He didn't say nothing. He just stood there looking at us. He stood there for awhile. I was still thinking, "Is this real?"'
Bracero has noticed more homeless people in the area who come into the store at the gas station, but he said they're not violent or erratic and haven't done anything violent.
They beg or sell water bottles to drivers, but leave people alone. 'It's a quiet neighborhood. I've never experienced anything like that,' he said. 'You don't expect to see anything like that. It's something that only happens on TV.
'I just thank God that we were all there, and the girl is OK.'
There are a few day cares within a couple-mile radius of the incident as well as a school. P.S. 14 at 3047 Bruckner Blvd. is less than a half a mile from the BP gas station, but it was closed on Monday for Columbus Day.
A school official told DailyMail.com that it's believed to be a one-time incident and no extra security has been added.
The attempted abduction comes amid a surge in violent crime committed by homeless suspects in New York City. The number of single adults sleeping in municipal shelters has spiked by 103 percent in the past decade and has continued to soar since coronavirus pandemic.
A homeless man is pictured near Washington Square Park in Manhattan on Monday. The city's vagrant population has doubled to 50,000 in a decade
The man was filmed wandering off in what appeared to be a pair of boxer shorts after his interaction with cops
In the past few years, NYC homelessness has reached its highest levels since the Great Depression in the 1930s, according to the New York Coalition for the Homeless. There were 47,979 homeless people, including 14,881 homeless children, sleeping each night in the NYC municipal shelter system in August 2021, according to the agency. In the same month, there were 18,357 single adults in shelters.
The coalition adds that thousands of homeless people sleep throughout the streets, subways and other public spaces throughout the Big Apple, but there is 'no accurate measure' of such data and city surveys 'significantly underestimate the number of unsheltered homeless New Yorkers.'
Many have said that Mayor Bill de Blasio's attempts to handle the ongoing mental health crisis have only exacerbated it.
A homeless man is pictured talking to cops while sat against a concrete barrier next to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan
New York City is seeing a surge in violent crime committed by homeless suspects with untreated mental health issues. Above, a homeless woman pushes a cart through Times Square
The Office of Community Mental Health, which was once known as first lady Chirlane McCray's $1.25 billion ThriveNYC initiative, has yet to reinstate two in-person training programs, Mental Health First Aid and Crisis Intervention Training due to COVID-19 safety precautions even though city workers have been back in their offices for months, according to the New York Post.
The number of crime victims offered emotional support services also dropped from 49,000 in the 2020 fiscal year to 39,000 in 2021 fiscal year, the outlet reported.
And mental health service in high-needs schools saw a change of guard this year. They are now run by the Department of Education and the Department of Health instead of the Office of Community Mental Health.
There have been 16,899 felony assaults in NYC this year through October 3, with multiple terrifying examples carried out by homeless people, according to the the most recent data from the NYPD.
That is up seven percent from the 15,787 committed in the same time period the previous year. Felony assaults are up almost 16 percent in the past 28 days, with 1,949 incidents through October 3 compared to 1,685 in the same duration last year.
Robberies in the Big Apple are down just 0.4 percent with 9,647 through October 3 compared to 9,686 committed in the same period last year. Robberies are up nine percent in the past 28 days with 1,222 occurring in in 2021 as compared to 1,117 in 2020.
A woman is pictured chatting with a group of homeless men in Harlem on Monday
A homeless encampment is pictured on the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn on Monday
The homeless crisis in New York appears to increase as more people are left without a place to stay
A man on crutches sits on a Big Apple sidewalk, amid an explosion in the city's homeless population
Transit crimes are down 13 percent this year through October 3, with 1,200 in 2021 and 1,384 in 2020. However, such crimes have soared in the past 28 days and are up about 66 percent with 169 in 2021 as opposed to 102 for the same period in 2020.
Recent anecdotal evidence has shown instances of homeless attackers carrying out muggings, assaults and attacking people on the city's subway system.
One of the main causes of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing. Surveys of families experiencing homelessness found that immediate triggers were
