A convicted murderer in New York who was released on parole reportedly attempted to kidnap an 8-year-old girl off the street in New York City this week.
According to the New York Post, the convict, Juan Rivera, 52, was released from state prison in late August. On Wednesday, he reportedly grabbed and “physically restrained” the young girl as she walked in her neighborhood around 3:15 p.m.
The girl’s father reportedly intervened and wrestled his daughter from Rivera. Police officers who were driving by ended up arresting Rivera, and he was charged with kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, and harassment. He had been held in the same facility in New York since 2005 (via New York Post):
Rivera was last arrested on March 25, 2003, for fatally shooting a 33-year-old man in the Bronx, cops and police sources said.
He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 25 years to life, state correction records show.
He was held in the Franklin Correctional Facility in Malone, New York, from July 22, 2005, through Aug. 25 of this year, when he was released on parole, records show.
Police say he was also arrested for attempted murder on Oct. 25, 1993.
But that charge does not appear in correction records, which show he was held in the Altona Correctional Facility from May 1995 through September 2001 on burglary and weapon possession raps.
Wednesday’s bust marks Rivera’s sixth unsealed arrest in the Big Apple, cops said.
His record also includes raps for weapon possession and narcotics use, police said. His first bust was in 1988.
Bronx-based outlet News 12 interviewed the father, Abraham Perez, about the attempted kidnapping. He said that his daughter had stopped to play in leaves on their walk home from a store when Rivera “came charging” at them and grabbed his daughter, Maria, by the shirt and started dragging her away from him.
After the father intervened and got the cops’ attention, they together chased down Rivera and arrested him.
Perez told News 12 that his child is “traumatized” from the experience. He said she was screaming and crying, saying, “leave me alone” to Rivera. Perez added that his daughter wouldn’t even go outside anymore.
On Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show, where he said, “this catch, repeat, release system is just destroying the foundation of our country.”
“There are too many people…that are repeated offenders. They have made up their mind that they’re going to be violent in our streets,” he added.