OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Charges have been dropped against a Saco man who was accused last month of trying to abduct a 3-year-old boy while the child’s parents watched.
Investigators are now pursuing the possibility of charging the parents with filing a false public report on June 22, Deputy Police Chief Keith Babin said today in a written news release.
The York County District Attorney’s Office, in consultation with the Old Orchard Beach Police Department, has dismissed a charge of criminal restraint that was filed against Eric Auger, 37, of 24 Norman St., Saco.
After Auger’s arrest and court arraignment, police conducted follow-up interviews and met with additional witnesses, Babin said.
Based on new information, investigators determined that while Auger was in the area at the time of the reported incident, he didn’t pick up or move the child at any time.
Babin said police are continuing the investigation and authorities may charge the parents with filing a false public report. The parents haven’t been named.
Once the investigation is completed, the case will be reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office, Babin said.
Initially, the parents told police that a man snatched their son as he played in a grassy area near the Pine Grove Cabins & Vacancy Pub at 17 Ocean Park Road.
The parents said they were sitting at a picnic table in front of their cabin when they noticed a man standing near the road, as if he were waiting for a bus, Babin said last month.
The parents said they were suspicious of the man because he kept looking at their son.
Then the man suddenly walked over to their son, grabbed him and ran away, carrying the boy, the parents told police.
They said the boy’s father ran after the man, caught up to him and pulled the boy away, sending him running back to his mother. The father confronted the man and tried to restrain him, but the man ran away, the parents told police.
After the parents reported the alleged incident, a police officer in a patrol car saw a man who fit the description given by the parents as he walked on Ocean Park Road in Saco, toward Route 1. The officer stopped the man, interviewed him briefly and arrested him, Babin said last month.
In today’s news release, Babin said Auger admitted at the time that he had been at the scene where the parents said an attempted abduction occurred. Auger also told police that he had been confronted by a man, but he didn’t know why.
Still, based on witnesses’ reports provided that day, police arrested Auger and charged him with criminal restraint, a Class C felony that carries a jail sentence of three to five years, Babin said.
Auger was arraigned on June 23 and was order held at York County Jail on $500 bail, where he remains this evening.
Auger has been arrested several times, on charges ranging from disorderly conduct to drunken driving, but he has no history of sexual offenses, Babin said.
The family is from Texas but is living in the area, Babin said.
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