A 14-year-old Florida boy, trying to help a three-year-old toddler find her mom, is anxiously awaiting his fate, as the State Attorney’s office decides whether or not to pursue charges of “false imprisonment”.
Edwin McFarlane who was shopping with his mother, Mildred Roman in the Burlington Coat Factory store on 7475 west Colonial Road last week, was arrested and charged with false imprisonment, after he escorted the toddler from the store in search of her mother.
McFarlane, who appeared with his mother and attorney on Good Morning America (GMA) on Thursday, repeated what he told deputies from the outset: “I was just trying to help.” His mother said this morning too, when her son recognized that the 3-year-old appeared not to have an adult nearby, McFarlane told her he was going to help the girl find her mommy.
According to a report on the investigation from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Ms. Gizelle Pierre, the toddler’s mother, had turned away in the store to return an item to its location when she noticed her child was missing. Pierre said she quickly ran out of the store, discovered McFarlane walking with her daughter who told her, “I was helping her find her mommy.” She retrieved her child.
McFarlane’s mother said this morning on GMA that Pierre told her son, “Thank you”.
McFarlane’s attorney, Natalie Jackson said this morning that charges had not yet been filed against her client, but she expected they would to be dropped. McFarlane does not have a criminal record, she said. Jackson also called on the Sheriff’s Office to do an administrative expungement of McFarlene’s arrest record.
Meanwhile, according to GMA, McFarlane’s arresting officer, Sgt. Richard Mankewich, has had a history of controversy with minorities. In 1997, Mankewich arrested an off-duty black Miami police major. Those charges were later dropped. In 2004, he shot and killed an unarmed black man.
McFarlane, who is African-American, remains on home confinement as he awaits the decision of the State Attorney’s Office. He said he would still want to help people, but would go to an adult and ask for help, if a similar situation did arise.
