A man has been busted for pinning down an 11-year-old girl he suspected was egging his home over the course of a week.
Marius Mutu, 43, was captured on video holding the young girl to the ground outside the Allison Park Place apartment complex in Tampa, Florida, as she cried for help shortly after midday on the day before Easter.
‘Please, I wasn’t doing anything,’ the girl could be heard screaming.
‘I swear on my life. Help me.’
Matu’s response to the victim was inaudible, but footage showed him grabbing the girl’s arms and refusing to let her go.
At the end of the clip, another man orders Matu to get off of the girl.
A woman could be heard in a video recorded from a higher floor yelling at Matu to ‘get off her’ as he had her pinned down. A neighbor called 911.
Matu told sheriff’s deputies that someone had been egging his apartment throughout the week and that it happened again on Saturday, WFLA reported. He said he assumed the girl was the culprit and claimed he was trying to photograph her to report to his building management team, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Chad Chronister called Matu’s actions ‘unacceptable’ and ‘reprehensible’.
‘This child endured a terrifying and traumatic experience at the hands of someone who chose to take matters into his own hands,’ stated Chronister.
‘We remain committed to protecting our children and ensuring those who harm them are held fully accountable.’
Matu was arrested and charged with battery and false imprisonment.
A neighbor, Hannah Noel, said it was traumatic to witness in light of other kids walking the streets including at night.
‘I just think of like, “What if it was my kid or our kid?” Like it could be anybody,’ she told WFLA.
‘As a mom, it makes me sick to my stomach.
‘For a grown man to do something to a vulnerable person is ridiculous.’
