Police: Child abduction attempt is unfounded
'As of [Sunday] night, we did officially determine that it did not happen'
Police have deemed an attempted child abduction reported Saturday to be unfounded.
Due to subsequent interviews in coordination with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the incident was proved to be “unfounded due to a miscommunication,” according to Captain Michael Schneider of the Allenhurst Police Department.
The incident reportedly occurred at approximately 2:25 p.m. Saturday. A 10-year-old boy told police a white male suspect grabbed him by his shirt and tried to pull him inside the back of a “white work van” as he was leaving the Deal Lake area heading towards the Allenhurst train station parking lot, according to a statement issued by Captain Michael Schneider Saturday.
“We had no reason to believe it wasn’t a true story from the get-go and treated it as such,” Schneider said. “As of [Sunday] night, we did officially determine that it did not happen.”
Despite the fabrication, Schneider is relieved the incident did not take place.
“The sense of relief—I can’t even explain the sense of relief as you can imagine,” he said.
It will be up to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s office whether to press charges against the individual involved in the incident, Schneider said.
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