A woman accused of trying to take a police officer’s 4-year-old son outside a Brooklyn McDonald’s allegedly told the child to “come with Mama,” prosecutors said Sunday. The woman had also been accused of punching a bus passenger while making an allegedly hateful remark.
Chrissy Payne, 47, was arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court on attempted kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child charges stemming from the Sept. 14 incident. She also faces felony hate-crime assault charges over the alleged attack on a woman aboard a city bus last month, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.
“It is alleged that on Aug. 19 the defendant said to the complaining witness, ‘I don’t want to sit next to no white B-word,’ then hit the complaining witness in the face with a closed fist,” Assistant District Attorney Che Aroyewun told the court.
The bus assault case was still pending when Payne allegedly approached the child outside the Crown Heights fast-food restaurant. The boy was sitting on a bench with his 66-year-old grandmother when prosecutors said Payne grabbed him.
Payne allegedly told the boy, in substance, “Come with Mama, that’s my son,” before grabbing his arm and pulling it, Aroyewun said.
The child’s mother, Anyia James Roberts, an off-duty NYPD officer, intervened and stopped Payne, authorities said.
Roberts, who is seven months pregnant, pulled her son away, prompting the alleged would-be kidnapper to run from the scene.
Payne was arrested five days later and charged in connection with the attempted kidnapping.
Judge Emily Ruben ordered Payne held Sunday on $50,000 cash bail or a $100,000 bond. Her attorney argued that the amount effectively amounted to detention because of Payne’s financial circumstances.
Court records show Payne has four other open cases dating back to April. They include allegations involving petty larceny, assault and a separate hate-crime assault reported in July.
During Sunday’s proceeding, Payne repeatedly tried to interrupt the arraignment. At one point, she attempted to explain her side of the alleged August bus attack.
“Number one, I only had a court date. I didn’t have no convictions,” Payne told the judge. “Second, of all, I didn’t just hit somebody. She did something to me, too.”
