ARCADIA, Fla. — Arcadia Police arrested a man for the attempted kidnapping of a 7-year-old boy.
According to a police report Fox 4 received, it says the boy and another child ran home and told their mother something happened.
The boy stated he and his brother were playing basketball outside with friends on near Sunset Avenue and Bridle Path. That’s when they told officers they noticed a man, later identified as Adam South, walking down the road only wearing gray shorts and latex gloves.
The report says South went up to the kids and talked to them.
“He said to [victim] "come here" with his gloved hands and reached out as if he was going to grab him,” the report said.
The children said they ran towards their home.
“He stated that South was very close behind him but stopped when they got close to the yard,” the report stated.
The mother told police the child came inside in a panic, noticed he was upset and urinated himself.
When the child told his mother what happened, she said she ran outside and saw South standing by the stop sign.
The report says he began yelling at the kids saying "I'm gonna get you" and shaking his butt at the children.
The mother stated that South saw her come outside and began walking away before calling 911.
According to the report, the child told his mother he knows the man from the neighborhood.
Officers found South sitting in his driveway and questioned him.
South told police he was walking in the neighborhood and “asked someone for a haircut” then walked past the kids playing basketball, but claims he never spoke to them.
However, police arrested South for attempted kidnapping and disorderly conduct.
He was booked into the DeSoto County Jail.
