A 7-year-old girl from a tourist family in Portland was the target of an attempted kidnapping by a naked man in a downtown park. Police announced that the girl was rescued with minor injuries in the incident that occurred Saturday evening at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
The incident began with calls about a naked man running in the park around 7 p.m. Police, busy with other incidents, could not intervene immediately. About 12 minutes later, a new call reported that the same suspect was trying to pull a young girl away from her mother.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found the suspect swimming in the Willamette River. The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Daniel Vasey, was taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of first- and second-degree attempted kidnapping, custodial interference, assault, and harassment.
Investigations revealed that Vasey grabbed the girl's arm, and the mother, father, and bystanders immediately intervened. As the mother held onto her daughter's other arm to stop the suspect, a scuffle ensued and the little girl got up from the ground.
The father and nearby citizens punched, slapped, and pulled the suspect to make him release the girl. One person used pepper spray to keep the suspect away from people.
Police stated that the 7-year-old girl was not seriously injured, was checked by medical teams at the scene, and received treatment for scrapes but was not taken to the hospital. The girl and her family were tourists visiting Portland.