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Grandparents Fight Off Alleged Attempted Kidnapper Trying To Abduct Young Girl In The Night
Benjamin Dillon allegedly kicked down the grandparents door and told them that he was “taking the child.”
An Indiana man is facing multiple charges — and recovering from injuries to his face — after he allegedly tried to abduct a young girl from her grandparent’s home in the dead of night.
Benjamin Dillon, 37, was arrested last week on charges including burglary, intimidation, and resisting arrest, after the disturbing June 3 incident, according to WTHR, a local ABC affiliate. Police say that Dillon kicked down the door of Martin and Patricia Roth’s apartment in the middle of the night and told them that he “was taking the child.” The couple, who had no idea who Dillon was, reportedly fought him off to keep their 6-year-old granddaughter safe until the authorities arrived, the outlet reports.
“I was sound asleep in my bedroom and this guy came kicking in and said, ‘You have my daughter,” grandmother Patty Roth told WXIN, a Fox affiliate based in Indianapolis. “I was nervous, very nervous. I was shaking so bad.”
Police officers arrived to find Dillon outside the apartment, “shirtless and very agitated, insisting there was a little girl in the apartment being raped,” according to a police report obtained by WTHR. He claimed that the girl was his daughter, and allegedly threatened to “fight” and “kill” the responding officers, police said.
Dillon proved difficult to subdue for the eight officers who arrived on the scene, according to the outlet. After they shot him with a stun gun three times to no avail, they were able to eventually overcome him and place him in handcuffs, even as he “kept kicking us and screaming,” police said.
The child told police that she was not hurt, but was scared, outlets report.
Following his arrest, Dillon called the alleged attempted abduction a “big misunderstanding.”
“I know I physically fought with police officers but I never physically broke into the place,” he told WTHR, a local ABC affiliate.
He believed that his daughter could have been in the apartment complex, he said. He also denied resisting arrest, as well as police claims that he threatened to take the child, instead claiming that he “asked if there were children present.” He went on to offer an apology to the girl’s grandparents — and another denial.
“I am truly sorry for coming to your apartment door, for waking you up,” he told the outlet. “I know I didn’t kick your door in. It’s a mistake.”
The Roths have theorized that Dillon may be on drugs, WXIN reports, with Patricia Roth telling the outlet, “I hope he gets the help he needs and I hope he gets himself back on his feet.”
At the time of his arrest, Dillon was due to go to trial on drug charges, and is now being held on bonds reaching $75,000, WTHR reports. He told the outlet that he is currently participating in a substance abuse treatment program.
