Police: Man tried to kidnap boy from Walmart bathroom

MARIETTA, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Officers have arrested a Marietta man after they said he tried to kidnap a child from a Walmart bathroom.

According to Marietta police, the incident happened about noon on Saturday, June 8 at a Walmart on the 200 block of Cobb Parkway South.

Detectives said that 51-year-old Michael Beltran approached a 9-year-old boy in the bathroom area and told him that "his mother had left him at the store and that he needed to go with him."

When the child refused to go, police said Beltran grabbed him by the arm. The child was able to escape and ran to his mother. The child's mother Tomi Lynn Cooper told FOX 5's Deidra Dukes, "And so, I walk back there to where the bathroom is and the man comes out and he looks at me like a deer in headlights. He stood there for like two seconds then goes the opposite way." 

Cooper called 911. Officers quickly arrived and located Beltran still inside the store.

Marietta police praised the child for his actions while reminding parents to teach their kids about "stranger danger."

Police said, "When you are training your kids always tell them you know 'Don't trust a stranger. Do exactly what this boy did.'"

Cooper's proud her son remembered what she taught him when it mattered most. 

"He is doing great now, but before today and the day after, he didn't want to leave the house.  He didn't want to go to any stores."

Beltran has been charged with felony kidnapping and misdemeanor simple battery and is being held without bond at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.

Police are asking anyone who might have had a similar encounter with Beltran to contact Marietta Police Detective Mark Erion at 770-794-5363.