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Port Orange, FL – An 81-year-old Florida man was accused of trying to buy an eight-year-old girl from her mother for $200,000 at a Walmart.
Hellmuth Kolb was arrested on Saturday and faces charges of simple battery and false imprisonment, according to WPVI.
Tracy Nigh was sitting with her daughter inside a Walmart on a bench. Kolb came up to Nigh and asked if she was married and then started to say how much he would pay for her eight-year-old daughter, WPVI reported.
When Nigh got up to leave, Kolb grabbed her daughter and kissed the eight-year-old girl on the wrist. Nigh then left with her daughter and alerted store security about Kolb.
Police said the incident was captured on store surveillance cameras. Kolb was identified through his credit card transaction and social media.
Nigh posted about the incident on her Facebook account.
“Shook, rocked and shocked to the core…,” Nigh posted Sept. 28. “A man at the Port Orange Walmart offered me 200k for my child today. Grabbed her by the arm and kissed her wrist. My 8 year old little girl!!!! We are pressing charges.”
Nigh continued: “Be careful out there women and men with your daughters, wives and the all the women in your life, please! He asked me where my husband is and laughed after I told him he’s at work.”
Police said that another woman told them that she had a similar experience about a month earlier with someone who fit Kolb’s description.
Police were investigating to see if there were any other incidents involving Kolb. A judge ordered the 81-year-old man not to have any contact with the mother or her eight-year-old daughter, according to WPVI.
Kolb said to police that he couldn’t remember if he grabbed the girl, according to the arrest report. A WFTV reporter tried to interview Kolb at his home and Kolb appeared willing to talk but a woman identified as his wife pulled Kolb inside the home and shut the door.
In a TV interview on WFTV, Nigh said she was upset that Kolb was released on bail.