A likely illegal immigrant faces child abduction charges after he was arrested in Lewiston for allegedly grabbing a three-year-old child off the street on Wednesday evening before claiming that he was “just joking” when confronted.
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According to the Lewiston Police Department in comments provided to The Maine Wire, the suspect, Firmino Figueira, 33, was residing in Lewiston at the time of his arrest, but is currently being held on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer, meaning that he is likely an illegal alien.
The Lewiston Police Department responded to Lisbon Street around 5:40 p.m., notably still during daylight hours, to a report that a man had attempted to abduct a child.
According to the child’s mother, a man whom she had never seen prior to the incident aggressively grabbed and picked up her three-year-old child as she was walking with her family.
The mother confronted Figueira, demanding that he release her child. He complied, and defended his alleged egregious actions by claiming that he was “just joking.”
Surveillance footage showed the suspect in distinctive clothing in a variety of locations, and police searched for him into the night.
At around 1:20 a.m. on Thursday morning, Lewiston Police Officers responded to a local bar after reports of someone driving erratically through the parking lot. When they arrived, police found that bar staff had already intervened to stop the vehicle and encountered a highly intoxicated Figueira.
He was arrested, and threatened officers while at the police station. Police found, through a review of surveillance footage, that Figueira’s car was the same vehicle that the kidnapping suspect entered after the alleged abduction attempt.
Figueira was transported to the Androscoggin County Jail, where he faces charges for operating under the influence, terrorizing, operating a vehicle without a license, and criminal restraint.
