King County Prosecutors filed a second-degree kidnapping charge today, the Seattle Times reports, against a man who lives at a senior apartment complex in Ballard. According to the SeattlePI.com, Robert Steiner Jr., 65, is accused of leading a 5-year-old boy away from his family while at Pike Place Market on Monday before his mother went running after them. The family, who was visiting Seattle from Santa Clarita, CA, released a statement today, part of which says, “We are very proud of our son for doing as he was taught, screaming ‘he is not my daddy’ and fighting his abductor’s grasp. We hope all families will consider teaching this to their children as well. ” Steiner is being held on $250,000 bail for investigation of kidnapping. His next court appearance is later this month.
Ballard man charged with kidnapping
He's one old f*rt who probably doesn't yell at the kiddies to get off his lawn.
Yeah, just read the story, where the Ballard connection was made, sounds like he had been squeaky clean since the 80's. Don't know if it's true, but there's no record of charges since then. His, (the suspect's) mother said he was on a regular trip downtown for medication, apparently for mental issues. She attested that he'd never done anything like this before.
Pretty Scary, I'm grateful that the boy is safe. And yes, echo the thanks of the family for the SPD and strangers who got involved and helped this family.
Yeah, edit is nice ;-)
Holy crap!I hope he doesn't reside in the senior apartment complex near the Ballard Common's park? That would really freak me out…
Those are very lucky and wise parents to train their kids that way…
It is unfortunate that the weirdos hang around Seattle’s tourist attractions. The Market, Pioneer Sq. and the Woodland Park Zoo come to mind. I know, they were there first.
Thanks for covering the tough news as well as the pretty, sunshiny news!
I wonder if this incident was dementia-related?
New facts are coming out about this story…apparently the boy grabbed the mans hand…who knws the facts really, but the man convicted is a vietnam veteran who is suffering from schizophrenia, who was on his way to the VA hospital for his checkups. Innocent until proven guilty, people.
Poo poo….a couple of things I would like to address in response to your comment. The man stated that the boy grabbed his hand; this story hasn't been substantiated by anyone else. You also wrote, “…the man convicted is…”; he has not been convicted at this point. He is being held on bail which means he has been arraigned, and charges will likely be filed if they haven't already.
Jennifer:
poo poo's comment is correct and is all over the king5news.com site as the “boy grabbed the man's hand”…..
i am not siding with either person here as i am just happy that everyone was OK. i do, however, feel like this man has been nailed to the cross and we do not even know the story in detail yet.
yes, you are correct. he has not been convicted but the little boy grabbing HIS hand is a correct new turn in reporting of the story.
hopefully someone will get to the bottom of it.
the man is NOT CONVICTED….stop typing that he is!!
Jules, You'll have to provide me a link to the story on King 5's Web site. I just read each of the articles I found there via a search and none indicated that the boy grabbed his hand.
I did see that he has now been charged with second degree kidnapping. And for the record, No, I'm not in any way inferring that he is or he is not guilty; I am happy to leave that to the courts to determine.
sorry, pal, it is in the story at theseattletimes.com, not king 5. sorry to steer you in the wrong direction. that story should answer any of your questions. i think it is imparative in this story that he had his hand grabbed, he did not “lead the boy away”
i work with children and i have worked with vets in the past and i think facts, not rumor mills, should determine this man's guilt or innocence.
we are so freakin' quick to slaughter someone without the facts that it makes me puke! not you, personally, just how people are i suppose.
owl:
find it?
If you read the story again (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews…) you'll see that the assertion that the boy grabbed his hand came only from the man's statement: “He told police he had 'no bad intentions' toward the child and that the boy had latched onto his hand…” and “Charging papers say Steiner gave officers a written statement saying the boy had grabbed his hand as he walked past.”
It may or may not be true, but this point hasn't been independently confirmed from what I have read.
And no, I have no malice toward him. I hope that he is treated fairly and with due process.
i am not going to argue with you. i know how to read. i have no interest in reading it again.you think what you want and i will think what i want.
i don't care if you are “independently confirmed” with this story, or not. it is what it is….there is a possibilty that the kid grabbed his hand as an accident and he didin;t really know what to do but keep walking as he attempted to figure it out, as he was schizophrenic and probably having a hard time realizing what just happened and what to do next.
i was just trying to show you another side of what happened.
Owl:
In all fairness, I am not at all trying to be angry, or a jerk, to you about this story whatsoever. I just think it (as everything else) has spun way out of control BEFORE we really know what occured as none of us were there or we would have stopped it i am sure.
it just really infuriates me when people always blame others and “convict” them in their minds before any judge of law has even heard of the facts.
I just wanted to make sure you did not read my response and that i left a bad taste in your mouth because i am not like that and my integrity on thsi blog really does matter to me and offending others is NOT something i thrive to do daily.
have a great evening and thank you for your discussion on this.