LOWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - A 54-year-old homeless man accused of trying to kidnap two young girls in Lowell will be arraigned on an attempted kidnapping charge Monday, police said.
Wayne Spencer will be arraigned in Lowell District Court on charges including attempting to commit a crime (kidnapping), trespassing, assault, assault and battery, and breaking and entering a building during the daytime to commit a felony, Lowell police announced Monday.
Officers responding to a report of an attempted abduction at 59 Court St. about 4:20 p.m. Sunday spoke with Maureen Santos, who said she had just confronted a man who entered her home and tried to abduct her 11-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and her daughter’s 9-year-old friend.
Maureen Santos said the two girls were playing outside when her daughter noticed Spencer staring at her. After screaming for help, the 11-year-old ran inside her house, protecting her friend as she continued to yell for help and dialed 911.
“He ran toward me and I shoved my friend into the house,” Elizabeth told 7News. “He was coming up here and we were halfway in the house and he tried to grab my hair.”
Santos said when she heard the commotion, she came out and found the man inside her house.
The man allegedly looked at her, said “girls,” and physically touched her — that’s when Santos said she pushed him out of the house.
“I grabbed a hold of him. I just, you know, have a lot in strength in you and a lot of adrenaline in you,” she said. “I forced him out of my home.”
A neighbor, the father of the 9-year-old girl, ran outside after hearing the screams and pinned Spencer down with the help of a neighbor until police arrived.
“We just wanted to make sure the kids were safe,” said Brian Hackett, who helped hold Spencer. “That’s all we cared about.”
The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
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