Man arrested for attempted kidnapping in Queens attacks officer while in custody: Police

Saturday, July 17, 2021

Man arrested for attempted kidnapping attacks cop while in custody

A suspect who was charged in a foiled kidnapping attempt of a 5-year-old boy, has now been charged with assaulting an officer while in custody, according to police.

RICHMOND HILL, Queens -- A suspect who was charged in a foiled kidnapping attempt of a 5-year-old boy, has now been charged with assaulting an officer while in custody, according to police.

Officials say 24-year-old James McGonagle punched an NYPD officer in the face as the officer attempted to take his fingerprints. The officer suffered bleeding in the face.

They say the incident happened while he was in custody inside Brookdale Hospital.

McGonagle was taken into custody on Friday in connection to the attempted kidnapping of a 5-year-old boy in Queens Thursday.

Police originally charged him with attempted kidnapping, reckless endangerment and acting in a manner injurious to a child.

Video released Friday, shows a 5-year-old walking with his mother around 8 p.m. on Hillside Avenue in Richmond Hill when McGonagle got out of a red vehicle, picked the boy up, and carried him into the car while the other suspect sat in the front passenger's seat.

WATCH | Raw video of incident:

Police are searching for the men who attempted to kidnap a 5-year-old boy in Queens.

The boy's mother, Dolores Diaz Lopez, saw it happening, reached through the car's open front window, and pulled her son away from the man and out of the car.

According to sources, officers were at Brookdale Hospital for an unrelated matter when they recognized the suspect from the video.

They say the suspect was at the hospital seeking some sort of treatment and was taken into custody.

Police are still searching for a second suspect.

Police sources tell Eyewitness News that the older man seen walking next to McGonagle is his father.

The mother of the 5-year-old boy spoke out to Eyewitness News on Friday.

VIDEO | Watch the interview:

A mother is speaking out after she pulled her 5-year-old son out of the hands of a kidnapper who had snatched him from a sidewalk in Queens Thursday.

Diaz Lopez said she was walking with her children, on their way to visit her husband at work when a man grabbed her son, Jacob.

"I said 'oh my God my kids, oh my God my boy," Diaz Lopez said.

She said her son initially sat down in the back seat, but after she and her children pleaded for them to give the boy back, he stood up and she was able to grab him.

The suspects drove off southbound on Hillside Avenue and then westbound on Jamaica Avenue.

"I don't know why that happened. I didn't see those people, ever," Diaz Lopez said.

She explained in Spanish that a mother's instinct is what made her fight and act in a different way.

"You have to do what's necessary, no matter what," said said. "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."

Jacob was playing video games on his phone by Friday afternoon, but Lopez says all three of her children are traumatized and refuse to leave the house.

"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."

Police released pictures of the two suspects.