UPDATE from Columbia County Sheriff’s Office: “We have located and identified the male in the photo. We have learned that he suffers from a medical condition effecting his cognitive abilities. We are working with the family. At this time, no charges will be made.”
ORIGINAL STORY:
Columbia County authorities are seeking a man’s identity after a Grovetown mother said he grabbed her 7-year-old son’s hand Friday afternoon at the local Kroger store.
“Tell your momma bye,” the suspect allegedly said as the mother turned around and saw him walking away with the child, holding his wrist tightly, a sheriff’s report says.
The mother, who reported the incident three hours later from home, said she yelled at her son. He pulled away from the man, and the subject lost his grip. The mother and her three children then walked away from the man.
Authorities say the man is known to have mental disabilities.
In her complaint, the mother said she was at the Lewiston Road Kroger around 1 p.m. with her three children.
“An older white male, wearing blue jeans and a bright orange shirt, began walking around her and the children,” the report says. “(She) felt very uncomfortable, but she did not want to be rude to the man. She and the kids spoke to him.”
The mother then began speaking to a Kroger associate at the cheese counter when the suspect began talking to the 7-year-old son behind her. That’s when he told the boy to say goodbye.
She spoke to a store manager and went home to calm down before calling the sheriff’s office.
The manager told authorities that they know the man from his regular trips to the store.
“The subject makes them very uncomfortable and he has made rude comments to them,” a report says. “He told one female associate, ‘You would be much prettier if you did not have that scar.’”
The same suspect orders shrimp and doesn’t always pay for it, instead eating the steamed seafood in the store, the manager said.
If you can identify the man, please contact the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800 or 706-541-1044.
