Shocking video shows the moments a Florida man pinned an 11-year-old girl to the ground as she screamed for help after he thought that she was the culprit who had egged his apartment for a week.
Marius Mutu, 43, was arrested and charged with battery and false imprisonment after one of his neighbors recorded him immobilizing a young girl and loudly chastising her.
In the chilling footage, the child can be heard loudly screaming for help and pleading with Mutu, insisting that she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Please, I wasn’t doing anything!” the child screamed out. “I swear on my life! Help me!”
A woman recording the video shouted at Mutu, “I’m recording. Get off of her!”
The video ended after a man ran toward Mutu yelling, “Hey, hey, get your hands off of her!”
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the incident happened on April 19 at an apartment complex in Tampa. Police received reports that someone in the community was assaulting a child.
Mutu told responding deputies that he had been trying to catch the person who had been throwing eggs at his apartment for a week.
He assumed the girl walking nearby was responsible after his apartment was egged again that day. Authorities say he chased her, forced her to the ground, and restrained her until other adults intervened.
Mutu claimed he just wanted to take a photo of the girl to report the incident to apartment management.
Authorities arrested him at the scene.
“This type of behavior is not only unacceptable, it’s reprehensible. The safety of our children is non-negotiable,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “This child endured a terrifying and traumatic experience at the hands of someone who chose to take matters into his own hands. We remain committed to protecting our children and ensuring those who harm them are held fully accountable.”
“As a mom, it makes me sick to my stomach,” resident Hannah Noel told WFLA. “For a grown man to do something to a vulnerable person is ridiculous.”
A city spokesperson confirmed to NBC News that Mutu was also suspended from his job at the Tampa Parking Division “while the situation is under review.”
