Crime & Safety

Police Charge Suspect After Child Grabbed At Pine Tree Nursery

A hero teacher saved the day when an intruder hopped the fence of a nursery in Riverhead.

A suspect has been arrested and charged with an incident at the Pine Tree Day Nursery in Riverhead, during which a man allegedly hopped the fence and grabbed a child's hand -- and a hero teacher sprang to the rescue, slapping him until the boy was safe.

After the incident, police said a witness was located and was able to assist in identifying the suspect.

Riverhead police said on Friday at 7:30 a.m., Gemler Ramos, 31, of Roanoke Avenue in Riverhead, was located on Railroad Avenue in Riverhead was arrested and charged with criminal trespass in the third degree, police said.

He was arrested without incident and transported to Riverhead police headquarters, where he was held to await arraignment.

The arrest came three days after a terror-filled snack time at Pine Tree Day Nursery in Riverhead on Tuesday, when an unknown man hopped the fence into the playground.

But despite her fear, one brave teacher, Barbara Schandel, did what came naturally -- running to protect her young students.

"We were outside playing and there were two gentlemen there," Schandel said. "One was cutting the grass."

The nursery school, she said, is located right next to a cemetery on Roanoke Avenue. At first, the teacher thought the two men were together. But then, she said, something went terribly wrong.

"I saw one gentleman jumping over the fence,"  Schandel said. "I started yelling at the other gentleman, asking 'Why is he here?' The man who was cutting the grass said he didn't know him."

Fueled by adrenaline, Schandel sprang into action. "I was running," she said. "I was yelling at him, telling him I was going to call the cops. He moved this toy truck, pushed it out of the way and grabbed one of my student's hands."

Frantic, Schandel protected the child, a little three-year-old boy. "I slapped him and started screaming at him," she said. "I slapped his hand, to release the child -- then I just grabbed all three children and started running."

The children, she said, were not afraid. "They were more concerned that I was yelling," she said. 

Meanwhile, the man kept repeating the words, "I'm not bad; I'm not bad," she said.

While she was running toward safety with the kids, Schandel heard the intruder jump back over the fence; police said he headed back toward Riverhead Cemetery.

"We just brought the kids inside and counted them. We have always been taught to count the kids, and now I know why," Schandel said. "We knew 15 kids had go out, and 15 went in."

Thinking back over the incident, Schandel said she had only one thought in her mind: "I wanted the kids to be safe. I'm with them every day. They're like my  kids."

While she has no idea why the man hopped the fence, Schandel said she was determined to protect her young charges. "In my mind, I thought he was going to take him," she said.

Schandel called the main office, yelled for a lockdown, and police were notified, she said.



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