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Hero NYC cop praised as ‘strong mom’ for saving son from clutches of crazed kidnapper while pregnant

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Fitz-Gibbon, J., & Sheehan, K. (2026, September 17). Hero NYC cop praised as ‘strong mom’ for saving son from clutches of crazed kidnapper while pregnant. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/17/us-news/hero-nyc-cop-praised-as-strong-mom-for-saving-son-from-clutches-of-crazed-kidnapper-while-pregnant/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-09-17 · by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon, Kevin Sheehan

Quick Summary

Off-duty NYPD officer Anyia James Roberts, seven months pregnant, saved her four-year-old son from a suspected kidnapper near a McDonald's restaurant in Crown Heights, Brooklyn on Wednesday evening. The incident occurred when the woman attempted to grab the child from his grandmother outside the fast-food establishment around 5 p.m., causing a struggle between the would-be abductor and the boy’s grandmother until Roberts intervened. Police are investigating and have released surveillance images of the suspect, urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
Written by AI on 2026-09-17, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On Monday around 5 p.m., a 47-year-old woman named Chrissy Payne from Flatlands tried to snatch a 4-year-old boy from his 66-year-old grandmother outside a McDonald's in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The woman grabbed the child by his shirt and attempted to take him across the street. However, the boy’s mother, an off-duty NYPD officer named Anyia James Roberts who is 7 months pregnant, intervened and saved her son from Payne. No injuries were reported during this incident.

The NYPD released surveillance images of Payne wearing a white shirt, black shorts, and black sandals to help identify and locate her. She was eventually arrested on Friday evening at around 11:45 p.m., charged with attempted kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child. The boy’s father, Gentle Roberts, praised his wife as a hero for her quick actions.

Written for “NYC Cop Mom Saves Boy From Kidnapper” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 NYC Cop Mom Saves Boy From Kidnapper
Crime & Law · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 2 of 6 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 3 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 15 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A describes the incident of a pregnant cop saving her son from an attempted kidnapping by a crazed woman, while Article B reports on the criminal background and previous assault charges against the same kidnapper.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15783 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
51 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Bruce Blakeman slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul as lefty Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “puppet” during a GOP campaign rally at an upstate shopping center Sunday, calling out the governor over the state’s soft-on-immigration sanctuary policy.
🔮 But the attorney general came under fire after it was revealed that she had posted comments on social media expressing sympathy for the alleged victim before the appointment – suggesting she may not be impartial and prompting President Trump and others to call for her to recuse herself.
🔮 “Anyone seeking public office is expected to demonstrate sound judgment, self-control, and the ability to handle confrontation without resorting to physical aggression.
🔮 “After this year we will have spent $10 billion on illegal migrants who just claim asylum.
🔮 “For the first time… those victims will have a direct line to the attorney general,” Komatireddy said — as she unveiled her plan to establish a “Victims Advisory Council” within the AG’s Office if she unseats James on November 3.
🔮 Dawood Faisal, 22, who was already behind bars on manslaughter charges in the May 25 death of Cara Trager on Union Parkway, was indicted on separate raps for allegedly vandalizing Bagels & Co., a Jewish-owned shop that displayed Israeli flags and banners, the Queens District Attorney’s Office said.
🔮 Now, community leaders maintain they’re fed up, and said Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani haven’t done enough to clean up their neighborhood after years of complaints.
🔮 “As attorney general, I will launch a sweeping transit-crime crackdown,” Komatireddy said.
🔮 Police have not identified her as a suspect, but are investigating whether she may have been involved.
🔮 “[Wednesday’s] plea ensures that Ms. Martin will be placed on the Animal Abuse Registry, prohibiting her from owning, caring for, or having contact with animals,” District Attorney Susan Cacace said in a statement.
Also by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 51 articles by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon →
Kevin Sheehan
11 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The attorneys — state AG Letitia James, and city District Attorneys Melinda Katz and Eric Gonzalez — stared blank-faced when asked by The Post about the damning report at a Thursday gun-safety press conference. “Did any of you order prosecutors to downgrade gun charges to keep illegal immigrants in the US, per the Judiciary Committee report the recent house judiciary report?” a reporter asked, explaining the report could clearly indicate a gun-safety issue.
🔮 AI chatbots will be banned from feigning human emotions in conversations with kids, under a new law signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Wednesday.
🔮 Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman warned New York voters that congestion pricing could come to a “community near you” if Gov. Kathy Hochul wins reelection Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, vowed to kill the program outright if he beats the Democratic incumbent in the Nov. 3 election as he claimed Hochul could have a menu of new taxes she could unleash if she secures another term. “Doesn’t matter whether it’s New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Binghamton or any town in between,” Blakeman claimed while speaking on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan Tuesday.
🔮 Bruce Blakeman slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul as lefty Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s “puppet” during a GOP campaign rally at an upstate shopping center Sunday, calling out the governor over the state’s soft-on-immigration sanctuary policy.
🔮 “After this year we will have spent $10 billion on illegal migrants who just claim asylum.
🔮 “As attorney general, I will launch a sweeping transit-crime crackdown,” Komatireddy said.
🔮 You used to be able to walk through there by the jetty,” said Hazzard Ho, 32, who was shocked to find that he couldn’t traverse the beach with his Labrador mix, Chef.
🔮 Locals such as Bob, 77, grew worried Sunday that the high tide would bring another round of flooding.
🔮 Roberts, who is seven months pregnant, grabbed her son, forcing the would-be kidnapper to flee.
🔮 “The lady grabbed him by his shirt on his shoulder, and she wouldn’t let go.
Also by Kevin Sheehan
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 11 articles by Kevin Sheehan →

Topics

Brooklyn Crown Heights McDonalds Morning Report The Post

Subjects

Gentle Roberts PERSON · 3× Anyia James Roberts PERSON · 1× Brooklyn GPE · 1× Crown Heights GPE · 1× McDonalds ORG · 1× Morning Report ORG · 1× Roberts PERSON · 1× The Post ORG · 1×

Narrative

A Brooklyn dad called his cop wife a hero for saving their 4-year-old son from the clutches of a crazed woman who tried to snatch the boy from his grandma in an horrific attempted kidnapping earlier this week.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-17
🔮 “The lady grabbed him by his shirt on his shoulder, and she wouldn’t let go.

Claims (23 extracted, 2 hedged)

A Brooklyn dad called his cop wife a hero for saving their 4-year-old son from the clutches of a crazed woman who tried to snatch the boy from his grandma in an horrific attempted kidnapping earlier this week. asserted
who → call → kidnapping
“His mom pulled him away from her,” dad Gentle Roberts said Thursday of his off-duty cop wife, Anyia James Roberts, who is 7 months pregnant. asserted
who → pull → wife
“She’s a strong woman. asserted
She → ’ → ?
She’s back at work today.” asserted
She → ’ → work
Gentle Roberts said the tot was with his grandma outside a Crown Heights fast McDonalds when the stranger grabbed the boy by his shirt and tried to pull him away. asserted
stranger → say → him
“She was saying, ‘That’s my kid!’ asserted
That → say → ?
She was saying that more than once,” Roberts told The Post. asserted
Roberts → say → Post
“The lady grabbed him by his shirt on his shoulder, and she wouldn’t let go. asserted
she → grab → shoulder
She was fighting his grandmother. asserted
She → fight → grandmother
They were pulling him back and forth, and he started crying. asserted
he → pull → him
“She didn’t look homeless. asserted
She → look → ?
She had a phone. asserted
She → have → phone
They never seen her before.” asserted
They → see → her
Cops said the unnerving encounter took place around 5 p.m. while the youngster was with his 66-year-old grandmother on East Parkway near Utica Avenue. asserted
youngster → say → Avenue
That’s when the woman tried to grab the youngsters, until the boy’s mother stepped in to play both super mom and super cop. asserted
mother → ’ → mom
Police are still looking for the would-be kidnapper, who ran off after the boy’s mom grabbed her son, who was scared and crying but otherwise fine – and was back at school Thursday. asserted
who → look → school
Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. asserted
Report → start → news
Meanwhile, police released surveillance images of the suspect, and asked anyone with information on her whereabouts to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS. asserted
police → release → TIPS
“I want them to find her because if she don’t get him, she could come back and she could try to get him again,” Gentle Roberts said. uncertain
Roberts → want → him
“Or she could try to get some other kid. uncertain
she → try → kid
She’s definitely not right. asserted
She → ’ → ?
I would tell her to turn herself in. asserted
I → tell → herself
They’re looking for you.” asserted
They → look → you
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