‘Let’s get some ice cream’: Suspect arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping of boy at Eastside Dollar General – 104.5 WOKV

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A suspect accused of attempted kidnapping is behind bars after police say he tried to escape with a young boy. Police said Michael Novellino walked into a Dollar General on the Eastside and claimed he was looking for his son.

The boy's mother, Octavia Jackson, said her son was almost taken away from her.

“Anything could have happened, anything could have gone wrong,” she said.

Police said her son, Alijah, ran into the store in a panic and asked for help, and Novellino followed him.

“He was scared, he was scared,” she said.

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Jackson said she knew immediately something was wrong when she saw him.

“When I went to the store, I saw him crossing the street on his bike without looking to see if a car was coming, and he was breathing fast. I asked him why he was doing that, and he said, 'There's a guy. He tried to give me a ride,'” she said. “My son told me that he tried to get him to put his bike in his car, and they went into the store and said, 'Come on, son, let's get some ice cream.' And the lady said, 'That's not your son, he comes here every day.'”

The saleswoman knew the little boy because they were regulars there and knew that he was not the suspect's son. She called the police and told him to leave.

“I appreciate her because she was the one who told Alijah to stay in the store and called the police,” she said.

A police report states the boy told officers Novellino tried to grab him and put him in the car. The suspect told police the boy asked for money, but he didn't have any, so he said he would buy the boy an ice cream when his friends showed up. The suspect denied going to the store to look for his son, but police said the video showed otherwise.

Jackson emphasizes to other parents the importance of stranger danger.

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“Tell your children that if anyone approaches them, no matter who it is, they are not to go with anyone, not to accept anything from anyone, not to demand anything from anyone and not to go anywhere alone,” she said.

The suspect told police his car was broken down and he went inside to get ice. Police also learned the car had been stolen and the suspect said he got it from a drug dealer who gets cars for free.

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