Williamsburg 2-Year-Old Abducted by Father

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — A two-year-old girl was briefly abducted by her father Monday morning at the Bedford Gardens apartments in Williamsburg, police said, after which the child was returned to her family safely.

According to the NYPD, the girl's 39-year-old father took her from her home at 84 Ross St. shortly before 10 a.m. The man also assaulted the girl's mother, an NYPD spokesman said.

The child was returned later in the morning without injury, police said.

Additionally, a police spokesman confirmed Monday night that while the man was being held in a jail cell in the NYPD's 90th Precinct, he removed his pants and started to tie them to his cell, an action interpreted as a suicidal threat.

The man was stopped and taken to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, the spokesman said.

On Monday morning, Patch spoke to two witnesses at Bedford Gardens — a female resident of the complex, and a man who said he spends a significant amount of time there — about what had transpired. While both declined to provide a name, they said they knew the family involved, with the man saying he saw what took place earlier in the day.

The man who was arrested is known as Junior, the male witness said.

The witness said that at about 8:45 a.m., he saw Junior with his daughter. Both seemed to be calm, he said, adding that Junior "didn't look mad. He looked normal."

But later on, the witness said he saw Junior holding his daughter outside the building, with police telling the father to let her go. At one point, Junior reached into his pocket, the witness said, at which point police drew their guns.

Before the situation escalated further, however, the girl's grandfather, who had arrived on the scene, convinced Junior to release her. The girl went safely to her grandfather. At that point, Junior was tackled by police, the witness said.

Both witnesses also said they saw the girl's mother taken away by police with a visible bruise on her face.

The witnesses said they were very familiar with Junior and the girl's mother.

A series of problems had recently befallen Junior, they said. First, he had lost his job as a truck driver (though one said he may have later gotten a new one).

"From that day on, everything spiraled on him," the man said.

The woman said that in the past, she had seen Junior be verbally unkind with the mother, who lived in the building. Junior had lived there, too, but in recent weeks, the mother had asked him to leave the home.

"He couldn't deal with it," the female witness said. "He wanted to be with his family."

It wasn't clear where he was living after leaving Bedford Gardens, the witnesses said, with the woman saying she had recommended a local shelter.

The male witness said that Junior had talked about suicide, while the woman said she encouraged him to get psychological help.

However, the woman said she had never seen Junior be physically abusive.

"I'm shocked," she said, referring to his apparent assault on his daughter's mother. "This is not like him."

Despite his difficulties, the woman described Junior as "a really nice guy" who "never bothered anybody."

"He had a bad week," she said.

Pictured: Police outside Bedford Gardens on Monday morning. Photo by John V. Santore