PORT ANGELES — A man described as a transient is expected to be charged in Clallam County Superior Court today after police say he tried to kidnap a 6-year-old boy from Hollywood Beach on Sunday but was thwarted by the boy’s father.
Arthur Delfield Crall, 56, is accused of pushing a man down and trying repeatedly to grab the man’s son at about 7 p.m. near Hollywood Beach, Port Angeles police said.
The man told police he pushed Crall into the water and called 9-1-1.
Crall was booked into the county jail Sunday for investigation of one count of second-degree kidnapping.
“The information we have indicates that Mr. Crall was a stranger to the parties,” said John Troberg, chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney, on Tuesday.
Crall remained in jail Tuesday on $35,000 bond, according to Superior Court documents, that was set during a Monday hearing presided over by Judge Erik Rohrer.
Crall is set to be charged today in Superior Court at 1 p.m., according to court documents.
The court also ordered that staff from Peninsula Behavioral Health in Port Angeles evaluate Crall’s mental state before today’s hearing, according to court documents.
Police gave the following account of the events leading to Crall’s arrest:
A man called 9-1-1 to report a man he did not know, later identified as Crall, had pushed him down on the rocks at Hollywood Beach and tried to take his son.
The man reported that Crall was saying he was trying to take the boy back to his mother as he tried to grab at the boy.
After arriving at the scene, police interviewed Crall, who told them he was just trying to take the “boy back to his mother” and that the man who called 9-1-1 had pushed him into the water.
Crall told police he did not know the boy.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
