Florida man arrested after he allegedly attempted to kidnap child from Walmart: police

Pablo Pintueles Hernandez reportedly grabbed the child's wrist and tried to pull him away

Florida authorities arrest suspect after Walmart attempted child kidnapping incident

Lee County Sheriff's Office arrested suspect Pablo Pintueles Hernandez and after he was allegedly recorded grabbing a child in a Walmart store and pulling him away.

A Florida man arrested by authorities is accused of trying to kidnap a child from a Lehigh Acres Walmart store on Friday.

Pablo Pintueles Hernandez was charged with false imprisonment of a child 13 years old and under, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

Police say that Pintueles Hernandez grabbed a 4-year-old boy and pulled him away from his family before a relative quickly intervened. 

"Deputies immediately reviewed the surveillance footage and confirmed an unknown man walked up to the child shopping with his family, grabbed his wrist, and forced him to go in his direction before a family member intervened and pulled the child back," the Lee County Sheriff's Office explained on Facebook, attaching the disturbing footage to its post.

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florida man arrested after he allegedly attempted to kidnap child from walmart police

Disturbing footage reportedly shows Pablo Pintueles Hernandez attempting to kidnap a child in Walmart. (Lee County Sheriff's Office via Facebook)

"Through investigative techniques, detectives learned Pintueles Hernandez did grab the child’s wrist, pull him, and state ‘let’s go,’ restraining the child’s movement and directing him to walk with him," police added.

Officers arrived at Pintueles Hernandez's residence around an hour after the attempted kidnapping occurred and promptly arrested him.

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Police monitors with surveillance video

Authorities reviewed surveillance footage in order to identify suspect Pablo Pintueles Hernandez. (Lee County Sheriff's Office via Facebook)

In a statement, Sheriff Carmine Marceno called the incident "incredibly disturbing."

"I never want anyone in Lee County to feel unsafe, especially going on a simple shopping trip," Marceno said. "My team will stop at NOTHING to ensure criminals like this face the consequences of their actions."

Andrea Vacchiano is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. You can follow her on X at @andrea_vacch or send story tips to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Authored by Andrea Vacchiano via FoxNews December 30th 2023