A mask-wearing maniac who tried to seize a 2-year-old woman from her mom seethed, “That’s my child!” whereas waving a knife on the terrified girl — who grabbed her toddler and ran for her life, she advised The Put up Saturday.
Cecilia Carias clutched her dark-haired little woman and wept as she recounted the horrifying episode, which unfolded exterior a laundromat close to Atlantic Avenue and 109th Avenue in South Richmond Hill.
Carias, 30, was doing the wash and had introduced the toddler into the almost empty parking zone to play for a bit when a person in a sweatshirt approached on a purple bike.
“I noticed a person approaching on a bicycle,” she recalled. “I discovered it unusual as a result of he was watching us an excessive amount of. Then he approached. I assumed he had garments washing too, however no.”
Her daughter performed with some leaves, and fell.
As she sat on the bottom, Carias mentioned, the stranger approached.
“‘OK child?’” he mentioned, in response to the mom of three.
The interplay set off alarm bells for the mom of three, who grabbed her woman and began to go — after which bought cornered by a knife.
“He cornered me and he bumped into me and took out a knife and advised me, ‘That’s my child,’” she mentioned. “He advised me to offer him the woman. He scared me.
blade-wielding creep was busted for making an attempt to kidnap a 2-year-old woman in Queen. Obtained by the NY Put up
“I screamed for somebody to assist me,” she advised The Put up. “I simply screamed. … I pulled myself collectively regardless of the knife and my daughter and I began operating and screaming. … I didn’t let go of her for one second.”
A passing minivan stopped when the scholars who have been onboard noticed her operating frantically with the kid, she mentioned.
The cops arrived a couple of minutes later.
“I couldn’t communicate,” she mentioned. “I might solely scream and cry.”
Police advised her they’d already grabbed the person, later recognized as Peter Vonderhofen, at a house close by and took her to determine him.
“I mentioned I couldn’t be certain of his face as a result of he was carrying a masks and a hat overlaying his complete head so the one factor I might inform them is that he was carrying a small purple bicycle,” she mentioned.
“The police continued wanting in the home and abruptly they took a small purple bicycle … that’s what I acknowledged.”
Because the incident, her daughter has been clinging to her for pricey life.
“She saved hugging me,” she mentioned. “She didn’t need anybody to even speak to her. She was very scared. She would cry if somebody walked as much as her.”
The mother, who’s finding out to be a nursing assistant, mentioned she already suffered from panic assaults and sees a psychiatrist, and the tried kidnapping has left her on edge.
“Truly, each particular person I see within the sweatshirt I really feel that he retains me,” she mentioned. “I really feel like he’s going to harm me.”
Vonderhofen, who’s being held on $30,000 bail, was charged with tried kidnapping, felony possession of a weapon, appearing in a way injurious to a toddler beneath 17 and menacing.
He was additionally linked to 2 armed robberies that have been carried out close to the identical intersection, police and sources mentioned.
Carias desires him to go to jail endlessly.
“Nobody has the correct to steal your youngster or your tranquility,” she mentioned.
However the mother, who additionally has a 9-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son, mentioned she’s going to stay sturdy for her kids.
“I do know I don’t really feel properly now, however I do know I’ve to face my worry,” she mentioned. “My life has a aim and that’s to boost my kids and I’ll do it even when I’m scared to demise.”
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