NAPLES, Fla. -- A Naples man is behind bars after he picked up a child and started running away at the Coastland mall.
Britney and Nikolas Egger witnessed the man, 46-year-old Donald Hayes, harassing a family of four for some time. He allegedly offered the family 100 dollars to talk to him. "Obviously we got kind of a weird vibe. Like, maybe he was on something," said the couple.
Then the man charged at the family and picked up one of their small children. "He started walking toward them and then as he got closer, he kind of dropped his bags and ran and picked up the kid," said Nikolas.
The boy's mother was shocked and screamed, before reaching out and brushing her son's leg. A few steps later, Hayes put the boy down and kept walking. That's when Britney and Nikolas took action. They called the police and Nikolas began following Hayes. Cops showed up quickly and arrested him outside the food court.
It was a busy day at the mall and many people saw the situation. However, if it wasn't for the Eggers stepping in, Hayes may have gotten away. "If nobody chose to call and we ignored the situation, or it was a situation that he just dropped the kid and went on his way because the mom stopped it, he could still be out," said the couple. "Don't hesitate, don't say 'someone else will take care of it,' say, you know what, I'll be the one."
