Letter on kidnapping and pickpocketing at holy place
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Dear citizens of Mckinney,
I feel I need to speak out once again. I feel you have all gotten the wrong impression on the situation. On June 1,2009 a man chased my son and his friend. Yes I was upset, as I imagine anyone with a child would be. We called the police and after finding the man, it was proved that he had outstanding warrants. He was released the next day on a PR bond. My son felt he was in great danger and so did his friend. I was upset for two reasons. First, because my son was so scared and upset. Second, because after being caught the responding officer told me and the parents of the other child that the man said "he was just messing with the kids and when he saw the dad he didn't want him to think he was trying to kidnap them so he left. The person in question was also said to be intoxicated at the time of arrest. This only added to the suspicion we had. I have read all the comments posted about how terrible a parent I am, how I have unfairly treated the police and Mr. Sandoval. Let me just say that I have never until now used his name. I only learned his name after the first article in the paper came out. My outrage with the police department on their handling of the case is however justified. I come from a law enforcement family and have the utmost respect for police officers and what they do. That being said, I want you to understand that the way they handled the investigation that night was not correct. I along with the other boys family have filed a complaint in regards to this. The officer that came to my house handled the children as if they were the criminal and not the victims. Even if this man had no other intent but to scare them, put yourself in my shoes. Would you not be upset if a strange man was chasing your child? What do you honestly think your reaction would be? So to those of you that are judging me just remember, it was not your child and you can never know the full story as you were not here to witness what went on. I feel in my heart and because I have asked my father who is an officer of the law and shares my opinion, completely justified in being angry. So just a warning, watch out for your kids and my God be with you. I only hope none of you have to deal with anything like this. Mr. Sandoval my very well be innocent. The kids never had the opportunity to identify him to make sure he was the one that chased them. This was one of my concerns. It was things like that which have me upset. I have not said anything that was untrue at any time, and I never labeled Mr. Sandoval as a kidnapper. All I did was hand out a flyer in my neighborhood with a description of both the man and the incident. Ask yourself, if it was my child, what would I do?
Kimberly Ippolito