BUCKTOWN/WICKER PARK — A man allegedly tried to grab a 2-year-old boy just south of a Bucktown park Thursday morning, according to the boy's mother who thwarted the effort and called 911 as the man walked away.
Around 10:30 a.m. Thursday, the boy was standing with his nanny in front of his home, according to his mother, a 39-year-old Bucktown woman who asked that her name not be published.
While her son and nanny were standing in front of the car waiting for her to come back, the mom noticed a man walking on the sidewalk.
"He spotted my son, his stare went blank and he only looked at him. He walked and stood in front of him, staring at only him," the mom said.
Just as they were about to move away from the man, he reached out to grab the boy.
"I held out my hand to stop the man and yelled at him to get the f--- away from my son and not touch him," the woman said. "He snapped out of whatever trance he was in, put his arms up and said "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" and walked away.
The mother said that police came to her home after they circled the block looking for the man, with no success.
She said responding officers told her to call 911 if she sees the man again, but they did not encourage her to file a police report, which she later did.
"It's a prime spot for kids and people like this," she said, noting that Walsh Park is just north of her home and in the direction where the man was walking from.
Since she watched the man walk away toward a preschool at the corner of North and Marshfield, the mom told workers at the school what happened.
An employee at the Gardner School, 1612 W. North Ave., said on Thursday that an email was sent to parents alerting them of the nearby incident.
“The child is not a Gardner student. The mom told us so we would be aware. We are on hiatus from park and walk time until we find out more," the worker said.
The man was described by the mom as black, in his mid-20s, standing around 6-feet tall, about 200 pounds, with a round face and facial hair.
He was wearing light colored jeans, a grayish blue T-shirt and was carrying a dark backpack, she said in a description posted to the Wicker Park Neighborhood Watch Facebook page.
Officer Thomas Sweeney, a Chicago Police spokesman, confirmed that a call was made to 911 and officers responded at 10:33 a.m. to a call about "a suspicious person."
Yon Ubago, a Wicker Park resident, was walking home on Thursday after picking up his 2-year-old daughter from the Gardner School.
Ubago heard about the incident through his wife, who read about it on Facebook, as well as from the email alert sent by the school.
Ubago said he is glad the school warned parents.
"It alarmed me but I'm not overly concerned. At the end, nothing happened. This guy wasn't violent. We walk home in open daylight on a busy street, so if something did happen, somebody would see," Ubago said.
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