Police on Thursday arrested a
49-year-old Italian man after he tried to snatch a two-year-old
girl off a Rome street in broad daylight, risking a public
lynching in the process.
The child, who was originally reported as being five years
old, was going to the park with her grandmother and 11-year-old
brother in the outlying Appio neighborhood when the suspect
tried to snatch her.
He pushed the grandmother violently out of the way to get
to the child, but was tackled by enraged passersby, who held him
until police arrived.
"I wanted to save her," he reportedly told police.
"Children are only safe with me. I wouldn't have harmed
her".
The grandmother, who had fallen and hit her head against a
street light, was hospitalized with a 10-day prognosis, sources
said.
Police quickly removed the suspect, who was in a delusional
state, before enraged citizens had their way with him.
He sustained some scratches, police said.
The man, who has no police record, faces charges of
attempted kidnapping and bodily harm.
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