Activists took matters into their own hands to apprehend an alleged sexual predator in Pueblo, Colo., after they say police failed to warn residents he had been preying on local children.
Members of the American Indian Movement banded together Sunday afternoon to patrol for a man they suspect committed two separate sexual acts involving children, the Pueblo Chieftain reported.
AIM member Alex Pacheco described the moments after the group got word a man matching the suspect's description had been spotted.
"I started running after him and finally caught up to him at about Eighth and Troy," Pacheco said. "There was a group of about five or six of us and we kept him there until police arrived."
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The AIM members chased the suspect down, pelted him with rocks and punched him in the face, police Capt. Tom Rummel said.
Police whisked the 54-year-old man away to the station, but Sgt. Eric Gonzales said he was released after an investigation failed to turn up sufficient evidence against him.
One man, Radolpho Balles, was arrested when he became belligerent with police.
The incidents in question involve one with the sexual assault of a girl in her home and another of a man of a matching description exposing himself to another child.
“We went through the right channels in contacting the police but there hasn’t been much response,” Pacheco said, explaining why he felt pushed to pursue the suspect. “We can’t wait around any longer without doing something. These are children that this man is after and we can’t let any more children get hurt by him.”
