A homeless man wearing a blond wig, makeup, pearls and high heels has been arrested for allegedly trying to snatch an 11-year-old boy from outside his Ohio home, cops said.
Joshua Freyermuth, 39, is accused of approaching the boy and his dog outside the home in Alliance, southeast of Akron, on Sunday, September 22, and trying to lure him away, just days after he was set free following a drug bust, WOIO reported.
“I need to talk to you,” Freyermuth allegedly told the boy, according to the police report.
When the boy refused to go near him, Freyermuth — who police say sometimes goes by Vicky and had makeup smeared across his face in his mugshot — allegedly tried to grab the child, cops said.
The boy managed to break away and the alleged suspect fled, according to police.
“When he grabbed my son’s arm, my dog attacked him and then he stumbled back off the stairs,” the victim’s father, Zachery Thurmond, told the local outlet.
“He kicked his heels off, my son said he had white high heels on, and then he took off running down the street.”
Freyermuth, who authorities described as homeless, was nabbed a short time later.
The arrest came just two days after the alleged would-be kidnapper was picked up — and later cut loose — on drug charges after police say they found methamphetamine stashed in Freyermuth’s car.
In that incident, Freyermuth had been pulled over after cops received reports of a suspect driving around trying to speak to kids, police said.
Mug shots from the arrests show Freyermuth donning two different styles of blonde wigs and makeup.
Freyermuth was arraigned on an attempted kidnapping charge in Alliance Municipal Court on Monday, September 23, where he repeatedly denied trying to snatch the boy.
“I wasn’t even there,” he told the judge, while still wearing his latest blonde wig. “I didn’t try to kidnap anybody.”
The suspect’s bond was set at $100,000 and he has been ordered to have no contact with the boy.
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