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A soft-on-crime fail appeared to leave children in an Ohio neighborhood at risk as a high-heeled homeless man was nabbed for an alleged kidnapping attempt just days after a previous arrest.

(Video: WOIO)

Sunday in Alliance, Ohio, which is roughly the center of Akron, Canton, and Youngstown, a 39-year-old Marlboro Township man was arrested and slapped with a second-degree felony charge. Said to live in a van, the suspect Joshua Freyermuth had been arrested Friday only to be released with “no reason to believe” he was “looking for children.”

Sometimes going by “Vicky,” Freyermuth appeared remotely for an arraignment wearing a blond wig, but without the pearl necklace and makeup featured in a mugshot. It was there he asserted to the court, “I wasn’t even there for that… I didn’t try to kidnap anybody.”

However, locals who documented the suspect’s activity in the neighborhood recounted a different story.

According to the 11-year-old boy’s father, Zachery Thurmond, Freyermuth had attempted to lure his son away from their home Sunday when the boy was letting the family dog out.

“I need to talk to you,” the suspect allegedly told the child according to the police report.

“When he grabbed my son’s arm, my dog attacked him and then he stumbled back off the stairs,” Thurmond told WOIO. “He kicked his heels off and my son said he had white high heels on, and he took off running that way down the street.”

The father asserted that he had pursued the suspect on foot and The Repository reported that the boy’s uncle told 911 dispatchers, “Somebody just tried to kidnap my nephew. They left on foot. It’s all over on Facebook. There’s a guy walking around dressed like a female trying to kidnap kids. He’s living in an abandoned RV down the road.”

Freyermuth claimed during his arraignment that “I was at my friend’s house when that incident happened,” and his bond was set at $100,000.

Only days earlier, he had been arrested when locals had called law enforcement complaining about the man allegedly attempting “to speak to kids in the area.”

He was discovered to have 1.6 grams of methamphetamine in the steering wheel of his vehicle and officers located a pipe with methamphetamine in the underside of the driver’s seat.

Provided with a court date, Freyermuth was released on his own recognizance as the police report stated, “There is no reason to believe the defendant was in the area ‘looking for children’…despite the resulting arrest it is believed the allegation was partially due to a social media post, by another individual, from a few days prior that the defendant acknowledged.”

The report also alleged that the suspect, “did lie about his activities, changed his story multiple times, and provided misinformation despite knowing an official investigation was underway.”

Freyermuth’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 30 as, in addition to attempted kidnapping and drug possession, he also faces charges of obstructing official business.

Kevin Haggerty
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