York Regional Police say an attempted child abduction that was reported Monday morning may not have occurred.
After receiving a report from the boy’s mother, police say they are still trying to figure out what happened, and they want to hear from a man who was spotted near the child in a Vaughan park.
Police initially described the incident as an attempted child abduction, but later backed away from the statement and said they are unsure if the man was attempting to abduct the boy.
Nadia, the boy's mother, said her son told her the man tried to grab him as she stood nearby at Vaughan Mills Park, near Rutherford Road and Vaughan Mills Road, shortly before 10 a.m.
Nadia said she was trying to get her six-month-old child to fall asleep when the man approached her son.
When the incident occurred, Nadia was pacing up and down a path that runs between the park and a street, and her son, Christian, had been playing alone nearby for just a few minutes, she said.
“I turned around and all you see is this young man approaching my son, or actually walking away at that point from my son, and Christian running to me and saying, ‘Mama, mama, the man tried to grab me, but he no grab me,’” Nadia told CP24 reporter Jackie Crandles after the incident. “He goes, ‘He’s a very, very bad man.’”
Nadia said she confronted the man after her son ran to her.
“As I was trying to understand what was happening I turned around and I looked at the young man and said, ‘What are you doing here?’” Nadia said.
Without making eye contact, the man scooped up a set of keys he had dropped on the ground and “took off” like nothing occurred, Nadia said.
The family then contacted police.
Officers searched the neighbourhood, but they were unable to locate the man.
In a series of tweets that were sent to alert the public, police described the male suspect as white and 25 to 30 years old with a thin build. He was wearing a white T-shirt, and dark and shiny track pants.
The male was last seen running westbound on Avdell Avenue, police say.
Anyone with information is asked to call police.
With files from CP24 reporter Jackie Crandles.
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