A man suspected of exposing himself to a brother and sister walking to school in Brooklyn Tuesday morning before grabbing the 11-year-old girl has been arrested, police say.
Akaijah Hall, 20, of Brooklyn, has been charged with attempted sexual abuse, child endangerment, public lewdness and harassment, police said.
It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney. He was seen being led from the 75th Precinct station Wednesday afternoon.
The girl was walking to school with her brother, 12, at Elton Street and Pitkin Avenue in East New York when the man allegedly grabbed the girl's arm and exposed himself, police said.
A witness named Wanda told NBC 4 New York she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"The man just grabbed the little girl in broad daylight," said Wanda, who was sitting in front of a deli at the corner.
The girl screamed, prompting the man to run away westbound on Pitkin Avenue, police said.
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A deli worker who heard the girl's cries jumped over the counter and ran outside but the attacker had already dropped the girl and fled, he said.
"I see a crowd of people," the deli worker said. "And the father just runs out on the street naked."
The girl was not physically hurt.
The girl's father was emotional as he spoke to NBC 4 New York Tuesday evening, saying in Spanish that he feared the worst as he raced from his East New York home in just his boxers after he got a call from his son about the attack.
Police stapled fliers with the man's picture on posts in the neighborhood, as residents promised to be on the lookout.
The girl's father says he plans to take time off work to walk his kids to school.
