A man who police say was approaching little girls in his van is now in police custody.
Julie Mendez, a grandmother in Phoenix, says she’s feeling relieved. “It was really scary, I’m really glad he was arrested.”
41 year old Leon Douglas Remstedt Jr. was arrested Saturday, at gunpoint. He’s the prime suspect in at least 2 incidences involving a light colored van that approached little girls.
Mendez tells us, life had changed due to his actions, “This is my , granddaughterJasmine. She likes to ride her bike around, and she couldn’t, or had to stay with her brother.”
On Saturday sheriffs received a tip that the man was staying in the back unit of a rental on Holly Street in West Medford.
Neighbors say it was quite a scene around 11 a.m. as more than seven sheriff’s vehicles surrounded the home.
“All of a sudden as I approached the house their was a man in kacki,” says neighbor Barbara McLeod, reenacting the deputy holding a gun, “…like this.”
The owner’s originally denied Remstedt’s presence. However, as deputies waited outside he tried to escape by jumping out a window and running.
“I kept peeking,” continues McLeod, “…and all of sudden this guy came running out of the house.”
Armed deputies arrested the man at gunpoint. The occupants of the home also were arrested for hindering prosecution.
Off camera, neighbors tell us this is not the tenant’s first run in with the law.
However, official are glad to have caught Remstedt before it was too late.
“We don’t know his motives or reasons for his actions, but we do know they cause concern and scare an entire community as they did. We’re glad he’s off the streets.” says Andrea Carlson of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.
And Mendez is also grateful, “It’s great,” she says. Grateful that this potential predator is off the streets.
Now, Remstedt faces numerous charges from Phoenix Police and the Sheriff’s Department. At this point they do not have probable cause to charge him with attempted abduction.
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