Holly MatkinWarner Robins, GA – A man who was actively choking a five-year-old child in the woods behind a Walmart store was stopped by an armed witness who jumped in to stop the horrific attack, according to police.
The incident occurred at the Walmart store located at 2720 Watson Boulevard at approximately 2:07 p.m. on Nov. 6, the Warner Robins Police Department (WRPD) said in a press release.
The WRPD received a report of a “kidnapping in progress” at that location and arrived to find a witness holding 67-year-old Haimnarine Doobay at gunpoint, according to investigators.
Officers determined that Doobay had driven to the store with a five-year-old child, The Telegraph reported.
WRPD Lieutenant Eric Gossman said Doobay and they child are related to one another, but the exact nature of their relationship was not immediately released.
Investigators said Doobay pulled up outside the store, “forcefully” removed the child from the car, then dragged the five-year-old off into a wooded area behind the business.
“Doobay then threw the juvenile to the ground and began choking them,” the WRPD said.
That’s when a witness armed with a gun intervened, according to police.
Investigators said the Good Samaritan “held H Doobay at gunpoint until officers arrived,” according to the press release.
The witness’s identity was not immediately released.
Doobay was subsequently arrested on charges of cruelty toward a child and aggravated assault.
Lt. Gossman said that although the suspect is related to the victim and had the child with him lawfully, the kidnapping charge applied because he forcibly moved the victim from one place to another, The Telegraph reported.
“It wasn’t a random act like some of the comments on Facebook might have been assuming,” the lieutenant explained. “The kidnapping stems from him forcibly moving the kid from one spot to the other the way he did.”
Police said the victim was placed into the care of the Houston County Sheriff’s Office Juvenile Division.
No further information was immediately released.
