Chaperones tackle man who grabbed child on field trip to suburban mall
A pair of quick-thinking chaperones on a field trip with a group of students tackled a man after he grabbed one of the children Thursday morning in Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee, police said.
A class of 11 students and eight chaperones from Elgin's Two Rivers Head Start Academy were walking near the mall's food court at about 9:15 a.m., shortly before the mall opened for business, West Dundee Police Chief David Sawyer said.
Arthur Robinzine, 19, of the 800 block of South Wolcott Avenue in Chicago, approached the group and picked up a 4-year-old boy before starting to walk away, Sawyer said.
"He was sitting on a bench, and when the group of kids came around he started to follow a little bit," Sawyer said. "Then he grabbed the child."
Within seconds, Sawyer said, a guardian and another parent freed the child and wrestled Robinzine to the ground.
"He didn't get very far before they tackled him to the ground," Sawyer said. "Mall security arrived and they held him for police."
Robinzine was charged with unlawful restraint, aggravated battery in a public place and resisting arrest.
Police took Robinzine to Sherman Hospital in Elgin for evaluation.
"He was not cooperating and seemed to be under the influence of drugs or had some other issues," Sawyer said.
No one was injured in what Sawyer described as an isolated incident.
"A majority of calls we get up there are retail theft-related or deceptive practices and bad checks," Sawyer said. "Nonviolent things. This is very unusual."
Diana Miller, general manager of the mall, said Thursday's incident also was a first in the mall's 25 years.
"Nothing like this has ever happened before," Miller said.
Two Rivers Head Start Agency Executive Director Jane Whitaker said classes occasionally visit the mall for physical activity.
"The children go to Spring Hill Mall to do running and jumping exercises on the playground equipment," said Whitaker, who said the Aurora-based agency had never encountered such a circumstance in 27 years. "It's for fitness, and sometimes they just walk around and look at things."