BORDERLAND

$100,000 bond for case of attempted kidnap set

6/18/2014

MONROE — Bond was set at $100,000 Tuesday for an 18-year-old homeless man accused of attempting to kidnap a 7-year-old Monroe boy by pulling him into a wooded area on South Monroe Street near Jones Avenue, authorities said.

Devin Turner was arraigned at Monroe County District Court on a charge of unlawful imprisonment, a clerk at the court said. He remains in the county jail in lieu of the bond pending a pretrial hearing June 30.

Monroe County sheriff’s deputies said the 7-year-old had ridden his bicycle to the area with a group of his friends to eat in a fast-food restaurant between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday, and that the suspect had joined the boys and eaten with them. After they finished eating, the suspect and the 7-year-old rode ahead of the group and the suspect allegedly tried to drag the boy into the wooded lot south of the Kroger shopping plaza on South Monroe Street in Monroe Township.

The 7-year-old was saved by one of his friends, a 14-year-old boy, who pushed the suspect away, deputies said. The suspect claimed to be the alleged victim’‍s father, but the boys ran away and informed their parents of the incident, the sheriff’s office said. The parents contacted authorities, who found the suspect sleeping in a tent in the area Sunday morning.

Sheriff's Detective Jeff Pauli said investigators were looking for surveillance video that might have captured the incident.