Recently-Paroled Murderer Snatches 8-Year-Old Girl On Bronx Street

Bronx, NY – A convicted murdered, who had just gotten out of state prison on parole, tried to snatch an eight-year-old girl on a New York City street on Wednesday afternoon, right in front of her father.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) told the New York Post the incident occurred at about 3:15 p.m. on Nov. 9 at Fox Street and St. John Avenue in the Woodstock neighborhood of the Bronx.

Police said the suspect – 52-year-old Juan Rivera – grabbed the little girl as she walked by him with her father.

Authorities told the New York Post that Rivera “physically restrained” the eight year old as he walked with her along the Bronx sidewalk.

The girl’s father saw what was happening and immediately intervened, according to police.

NYPD said that the father struggled to free his little girl from Rivera and was ultimately able to pull her from his clutches, the New York Post reported.

There were NYPD officers on patrol nearby when the attempted kidnapping occurred and they jumped out and arrested Rivera on the spot.

Police said Rivera had been booked on charged of kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment and harassment, the New York Post reported.

He will also likely face a slew of charges related to parole violations.

“I f–ked up,” Rivera admitted to police, according to the New York Post.

It was unclear whether the attempted kidnapper made the statement as he was trying to take the eight-year-old girl from her father or when he was in police custody.

Records showed the Rivera was released on parole from the Franklin Correctional Facility in Upstate New York on Aug. 25, the New York Post reported.

He served 17 years in prison after he was convicted of fatally shooting a 33-year-old man in the Bronx in March of 2003.

State correction records showed Rivera was convicted of second-degree murder in and sentenced to 25 years-to-life in prison, according to the New York Post.

But he was released three months ago by the state parole board.

Police said Rivera was also arrested for attempted murder in October of 1993 but that charged did not appear in his publicly-available corrections records.

Those records do show he was incarcerated at the Altona Correctional Facility from May of 1995 to September of 2001 on burglary and weapons possession convictions, the New York Post reported.

Police sources said Rivera’s arrest on Wednesday was his sixth unsealed arrest in New York City.

Rivera’s records showed he was first arrested in 1988 and has numerous convictions for weapons possession and drug crimes, the New York Post reported.