Shocking Video Shows 5-Year-Old Boy Being Snatched Off Street In Kidnapping Attempt

A 24-year-old New York man was arrested Friday for allegedly attempting to kidnap a 5-year-old boy in Queens in an incident caught on video, officials said.

James McGonagle, of Pomonok, was charged with attempted kidnapping, reckless endangerment and acting in a manner injurious to a child in connection with the incident that took place in Richmond Hill Thursday, the New York Post reported, citing a statement from the New York Police Department.

McGonagle’s alleged accomplice has yet to be apprehended. The alleged accomplice, who can be seen in surveillance footage released by the NYPD, is an older bald man who wore jeans, an orange polo shirt and sunglasses when he was with McGonagle.

Video of the incident showed the 5-year-old boy, Jacob Diaz, running ahead of his mother, Dolores Diaz, and siblings on Hillside Avenue near Myrtle Avenue in Richmond Hill, New York Daily News reported.

As the boy passed by a maroon four-door sedan parked nearby, a man got out of the car and grabbed the child. The man ran with the boy and put him in the backseat of the car.

The boy's mother, his 9-year-old brother Benny and his 8-year-old sister Zuriely acted swiftly and managed to recover the child through the open passenger window before the car could start and speed off.

According to police, there was a second man in his 50s in the passenger seat at the time of the incident.

The boy's mother told police that she had never seen the two suspects and did not know why they would take her son. Diaz and her children were on their way to visit her husband at work when the incident happened.

McGonagle was recognized by police officers as the suspect from the video when they were at the Brookdale Hospital for an unrelated matter, ABC7 New York reported, citing unnamed sources.

The suspect was reportedly at the hospital seeking treatment and was taken into custody. Police said the suspect is undergoing an evaluation at the hospital.

“You have to do what's necessary, no matter what," the boy's mother told Eyewitness News Friday in Spanish following the incident. "The car was just parked there. I would never have imagined that a man would get out of the car and grab my son. You always have to be aware of your surroundings and not be on your phone."

According to the outlet, the young boy appeared to be fine after the incident and was playing video games. However, his mother said the incident left her three children traumatized.

"Mothers have to be careful with their children," she said. "Always hold their hand when walking with them, because there are a lot of evil people and you never know who is near."