Dartmouth Police: No Kidnapping Attempts at Dartmouth Mall

DARTMOUTH — Dartmouth Police quickly shut down social media claims Thursday that there were multiple attempted kidnappings Wednesday night at the Dartmouth Mall.

Two posts were made to Facebook on Thursday, which made the situation sound very intense.

One post, shared by a store employee who said it came from her manager, reads:

“Hey guys just a heads up we had a mother and daughter come into our store alerting us that a man was following them he followed them into the store stood right near them and would not leave them be I called security and security escorted the two girls to their car in the parking lot he left our store to go into burlington and they’re getting the guy kicked out of the mall but while all that was happening security also told us that there were guys trying to kidnap a 16-year-old in the parking lot so there’s cops out there right now dealing with the situation. So please anyone closing from now on make sure you walk out together!”

A post shared by the another person and posted by the Dartmouth Police Department on its page reads:

“What a night! Not 1 but 2 attempted kidnappings at the mall tonight..1st girl was with her dad, dad saw the guy grab his daughter by the arm & went off! They were near the pretzel place. Second one not too long after the girl was smart enough to go into American Eagle and tell them. They called security, cops were called & out there when I left but I am not sure if anyone was caught, if it was the same person or 2 different. If you have teens please tell them to be careful!!!!!”

Dartmouth Police responded with the following information:

“Though we only received one (1) inquiry regarding the attached post, we wanted to take this opportunity to dispel any rumors before they go viral.

There were NO attempted kidnappings at the Mall last night!

The more accurate version of events, is that at approximately 6:30 p.m., an officer responded to the Mall to speak with a man who wanted to report that another man allegedly made some inappropriate comments to his daughter.

Beyond generating a call number, this incident did not require any additional departmental action and/or resources.

Though we always encourage the public to share safety concerns, tips, etc., please also try to keep in mind the ripple effect that posting false and/or inaccurate information on social media can have. In this day and age, a pebble cast into the social media ocean, can quite honestly create a devastating tsunami!

Thank you!”