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Woman Charged With Trying to Kidnap 2-Year-Old Boy in Central Park

By Sybile Penhirin | May 20, 2015 11:12am | Updated on May 21, 2015 6:16pm
 Police arrested a woman they say tried to kidnap a child from a Central Park playground.
Police arrested a woman they say tried to kidnap a child from a Central Park playground.
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NYPD

CENTRAL PARK — A homeless woman suspected of trying to kidnap a 2-year-old boy in a Central Park playground has been arrested a week after the incident, police said. 

Cecile Jackson, 35, was arrested just blocks from the scene where she tried to snatch the child from a swing seven days earlier, the NYPD said.

"This is not your kid," Jackson yelled after grabbing the child and trying to walk out of the park, according to a criminal complaint. 

Police were called by two women who said Jackson was acting strangely while sitting on a park bench with them and at least one child who was with them, officials said.

She was picked up by police while walking on Central Park West between 86th street and 87th street around 3 p.m. Tuesday, police said.

She was charged with attempted kidnapping and was awaiting arraignment on Wednesday morning, officials said.

Police said Jackson grabbed the boy at Heckscher Playground on May 12.

The child was saved when his 27-year-old nanny, who was pushing the boy's brother in an adjacent swing, snatched him from the suspect's arms before she could leave, police said.

The incident, which happened around 10:30 a.m., left caregivers using the playground extra vigilant.

“It was scary, it was unexpected,” said Elma Sescon, a 45-year-old nanny who witnessed part of the incident from the other side of the playground.

Jackson was held without bail after being arraigned Thursday and will undergo a psychiatric evaluation. 

— Additional reporting by Ben Fractenberg