Little Emily didn't let stalker win 'Some kids disappear and never come back'

NY Daily News ^ | 02.10.05

[Coleus]

Little Emily didn't let stalker win

Brave 10-year-old: 'Some kids disappear and never come back'

Brooklynite Jose Laboy (below) kept trying to lure or grab Emily Garcia, she says. Fifth-grader (above) describes terrifying, months-long ordeal.

A 10-year-old girl stalked for months by a Brooklyn sicko helped catch her tormentor this week - after he brazenly tried to snatch her off the street, police said.

"I thought he might grab me and push me into the car and take me away," a shaken Emily Garcia told the Daily News. "Some kids disappear and never come back."

But Emily wasn't going to be one of those kids.

The fifth-grader recounted how she escaped her brush with danger - the third time a neighborhood predator had tried to kidnap her.

The first two incidents were in June, when married landscaper Jose Laboy, 50, allegedly beckoned her to his car and even followed her into school.

After those disturbing encounters, Emily didn't see Laboy again - until Tuesday when she left Public School 72 in East New York and crossed the street to her house.

She saw Laboy sitting in a car and was flooded with terror.

"I felt like I was going to faint or get sick," she said. "I felt like, 'Oh, no, this is happening again.'"

The creepy middle-aged man tried to lure her into the car with an old ruse, she said.

"Your mommy's in the hospital," he said. "You have to come with me."

He made a sad face, but Emily wasn't fooled.

"You don't know my mom," she shot back and bolted up the stoop of the building.

Undeterred, Laboy tried to take her by force, police said.

"I was already touching the doorbell. He grabbed my wrist tight. I couldn't move it," she said. "I was gonna scream, but I couldn't. I was scared."

Emily had been taking karate for two weeks and she thought about hitting her captor, but she couldn't free her right hand. Instead, she grabbed the door knob with her left hand.

Just then, a friend from school stopped by the Berriman St. building to say hello - and the suspect fled.

Emily ran crying to her mother, Cristina Tineo, 29, who usually picked her up from school but was running late.

The mom said she asked a cop at a nearby Dunkin' Donuts for help, but he put her off, saying he was from a different precinct. She then called her boyfriend, Francisco Veras, 29, a chef.

Armed with Emily's detailed description of the suspect's Nissan Sentra - right down to a yellow "Support Our Troops" sticker and Puerto Rican flag-motif headrests - Veras went looking.

He spotted the car on Sutter Ave. and tailed it until he was able to flag down a police car. Those cops arrested Laboy, and Emily identified him at the scene.

"That's him! That's him!" she shouted.

Laboy, who has a previous arrest for marijuana, was charged with attempted imprisonment, attempted kidnapping, harassment, stalking and endangering the welfare of a child. If convicted, he could be locked away for five to 15 years.

Police sources said they don't believe Laboy targeted other kids, even though he allegedly tried to grab Emily three times.

The first incident was in early June, when he allegedly camped outside her school and tried to lure her into a white car decorated with stuffed animals.

On June 9 he allegedly chased her into school, stopping only after she approached a guard. He claimed a disabled girl in the hallway was his daughter, then fled.

Emily's mother filed a police report at the time and told her daughter the man wouldn't bother her again - so she was furious when he resurfaced.

"When they caught him, my blood went up and down," Tineo said. "I said, 'My God. She could have been raped or killed.'"

Emily was afraid to go to sleep Tuesday night, but she felt safer yesterday, knowing Laboy was behind bars. "That will never happen again," she said.

Laboy's wife, Madeline, who turned 47 yesterday, didn't believe the accusations. "Maybe [the girl] got him confused with somebody else," she said.

•TALK to your kids about safety. Don’t scare them, but make sure they know they have the right to say "no."

•REMIND your children never to take anything from or respond in any way to someone they don't know.

•TELL them if someone tries to follow or grab them, they should make a scene and run away.

•CREATE "what if" scenarios with your children to make sure they know what to do in an emergency.

[jsmith48]

Armed with Emily's detailed description of the suspect's Nissan Sentra - right down to a yellow "Support Our Troops" sticker and Puerto Rican flag-motif headrests

I'd be armed with more than that if I were her.

[US_MilitaryRules]

He'd be dead if he did that to my daughter.

[garandgal]

Police sources said they don't believe Laboy targeted other kids, even though he allegedly tried to grab Emily three times.

Oh sure.....

[WorkingClassFilth]

Teach the kiddies to bite, kick, scream, gouge eyes. If somebody the parents do NOT tell them is OK grabs them...then do NOT take into account the ideas of right or wrong - fight to kill.

[US_MilitaryRules]

What about this? Prior history.

Laboy, who has a "previous arrest" for marijuana, was charged with attempted imprisonment, attempted kidnapping, harassment, stalking and endangering the welfare of a child. If convicted, he could be locked away for five to 15 years.

And you think that just picking a yellow nissan and he happens to have a record of what he just did dosn't mean anything? I guess you think everyone has a record like this.

[rogator]

"Teach the kiddies to bite, kick, scream, gouge eyes. "

The FBI apparently agrees with you.
http://www.cbs.com/cbs_cares/abduction/cbscares_abduction_001.shtml

[DTogo]

He'd beg for death if I were the parent.

[dzzrtrock]

IMHO something is VERY wrong with this story....(besides the dunkin donuts part)

[Coleus]

They should have had a shotgun.

[freebilly]

The mom said she asked a cop at a nearby Dunkin' Donuts for help, but he put her off, saying he was from a different precinct.

Words are inadequate....

[Coleus]

Teach the kiddies to bite, kick, scream, gouge eyes. If somebody the parents do NOT tell them is OK grabs them...then do NOT take into account the ideas of right or wrong - fight to kill.  >>>

 

Whatever you do, don't do what this teacher did.  She chose the liberal way.

Slain NJ Teacher's Tape Reveals More Evidence, Too Bad She Did Not Have a GUN!!

[WorkingClassFilth]

Thanks for the head's up but I don't really care what the FBI thinks. Putting aside other's opinion is the core of the idea. If somebody you don't know and who hasn't given you the password for taking custody - then by all means keep out of their hands. If that fails, employ whatever means are at hand to disable or kill your pursuer. Just like stomping on a bug - no reflection - just act.

[Coleus]

IMHO something is VERY wrong with this story....(besides the dunkin donuts part)>>



What's wrong? The fact that she was being stalked for months and that she and her mother did nothing to stop it, like alerting the neighbors and community, calling the police or telling the principal.

[rogator]

"Thanks for the head's up but I don't really care what the FBI thinks. "

Your welcome. I was just pointing out how closely your advice matches that of the pros.

[clee1]

The mom said she asked a cop at a nearby Dunkin' Donuts for help, but he put her off, saying he was from a different precinct.

That cop should fired! "To protect and to Serve", my @ss!

[clee1]

Uh huh! 5 - 15 years would be the LEAST of his problems if I had caught up with him.

[WorkingClassFilth]

I don't mean to be rude, but I usually have a problem with the "pros" since they often reflect and endorse the status quo or 'enlightened' thought. You meant well and I take your intent with gratefulness - you're a FReeper, after all!

All older children should take martial arts courses with street savvy fighters who pay less attention to the orchestrated ballet in traditional schools and more attention to 'how to tear out somebody's eyes' or the ever popular 'how to kill somebody with a palm thrust to the nose.'

As far as I am concerned, if somebody grabs your kids, they are announcing their intent to kill them - act accordingly.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

"I was already touching the doorbell. He grabbed my wrist tight. I couldn't move it," she said. "I was gonna scream, but I couldn't. I was scared."

Just adding my .02 to remind people to make sure your kids know how to scream! That sounds odd, but people get socialized out of screaming loudly at an early age, especially "good" kids. Take your kids out to a field or somewhere and have them really scream good and loud!

Years ago, I was in a Dracula play (bwahahaha!) and we needed a really good blood-curdling scream offstage. We had about 10 people in the cast, and the director had all of us who weren't actually onstage at that moment audition for the scream. To my great surprise, several people couldn't bring themselves to scream! They were actors (well, fledgling actors) and used to doing odd things in full view of an audience, but the scream had been socialized right out of them. Teach your kids to scream! (And gouge eyes, etc. Whatever it takes.)

Oh, and yes, I did have the best scream. :)