James City County, Va. - Police have arrested and charged a man for abduction, among other charges, after an incident involving a 3-year-old, according to James City County Spokesperson Stephen A. Rubino.
On Wednesday, May 8 at 2:58 p.m., James City County police were notified about the attempted abduction of a child in the 900 block of Foley Drive.
The caller indicated that her neighbor, 73-year-old Barry Lee Hale, was yelling at two small children in her front yard and tried to drag one of them, her 3-year-old grandson, across the street toward his residence.
"He was screaming and crying. I mean, I've never seen him cry like that," says the boy's grandmother, Desiree Piggott.
The caller heard the child yelling, officials say, and came out and confronted Hale. He then left the area in a taxi that was waiting in his driveway.
The child was not injured. According to James City County Spokesperson Stephen A. Rubino, it is not clear why Hale was trying to take the child.
"We don't know why he was doing it, what he was doing. Even when he talked to police, he had no severity of what he had done," Piggott says.
Other neighbors say Hale moved in a few years ago and used to have cookouts for the neighborhood. She said she's noticed changes over the years and that he gets confused a lot but it's hard to believe what happened.
"He might yell at you but he ain't gonna grab ya," says neighbor Linda Rivers.
Hale was arrested a short time later, charged with abduction of a child, assault and battery, and trespassing.
Hale is being held in the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail without bond.
Stay with NewsChannel 3 for updates.
