Connecticut police arrest would-be kidnapper of Jewish girl

Christopher Rosa, 37, allegedly tried to lure an eight-year-old ultra-Orthodox child into his car trunk.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Police in Waterbury, Connecticut, arrested a would-be kidnapper of a young Jewish girl on Monday, a day after he allegedly tried to lure her from her front yard into his car trunk.

The suspect, Christopher Rosa, 37, was caught with the help of local residents who reviewed security cameras outside their homes and businesses after the authorities requested help in finding a suspicious vehicle that had been cruising a quiet Waterbury residential neighborhood on Sunday evening.

Surveillance footage caught the incident in full, showing a black Honda driving slowly down the street and braking occasionally. It stopped near a large house where the child was standing in the side yard, and the man, later identified as Rosa, got out and opened his trunk.

The youngster ran over to the car because, her father later told the police, Rosa had called her over and suggested that she get into the trunk.

On the security camera, the girl can be seen standing a few feet away from him on the edge of the grass for about 15 seconds before turning around and runing back to her house.

The driver immediately entered the car and started backing down the street, which was completely empty of passersby and vehicles at the time.

The youngster had approached the car because she thought Rosa was a delivery man, her father said.

“She initially approached because she’s used to seeing drivers open their trunks to hand over packages,” he explained. “She only ran when she realized there were no packages in the car, and it looked like he was making space for her in the trunk.”

Her parents called the police immediately after their frightened daughter told them what had happened.

Thanks to the quick work of the residents and police, Rosa was arrested the next day at his home and charged with first-degree stalking, second-degree breach of peace, and risk of injury to a minor.

He was released on a $100,000 bond, and a court date was set on Monday for his arraignment.

The local news reports did not identify the would-be victim as Jewish, and the police did not mention any possible racial, political or religious motive.