Homeless man spotted a 6-year-old wandering on a dangerous Miami street. His gut instinct made him call 911 just in time
'God sent me there, so I had to do what God says to do. Anyone would have done the same thing.'
Arnett Johnson noticed a boy wandering alone on the dark, busy streets of Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood and immediately knew something was wrong. For six months, he was homeless and had been sleeping on a bench on the street. After serving his time in prison, Johnson had struggled with housing and was living on the streets. When he spotted a boy wandering alone, his gut instinct was to reach out and help. His intervention proved to be lifesaving and is now being hailed as a Good Samaritan, according to an April 12 report by CBS 12 News – WPEC and an April 13 report by Fox8 Live.
Kids wandering alone on their own is the reality of thousands of children, especially those suffering from autism or intellectual disabilities, according to a study published in the American Academy of Pediatrics. Researchers sampled 1218 children and found that most of them had the tendency to wander out alone, a behavior CDC calls “elopement.”
About 1 in 4 kids were missing long enough to cause concern to the parent. Wandering is a common behavior in children, but it’s the parental neglect that can pose a risk. Thankfully, in the case of this 6-year-old boy in Miami, Johnson stepped up to ensure he was returned home safe.
“God sent me there, so I had to do what God says to do,” Johnson expressed to WPEC. “It’s dangerous every day out here,” he reflected, “Anyone would have done the same thing I did, you know?” The incident took place at about 11 pm last Wednesday. Johnson tried looking around for the boy’s parent but having found nobody, he instantly informed the Miami Police, and stayed with the kid until authorities arrived.
“This was a Good Samaritan that was sleeping in the streets and called us and gave us that information," City of Miami Police Officer Mike Vega recalled while speaking with the outlet. Lauding the homeless man, he said, "You know, kudos to him, as we don’t know what could have happened to this child if he had remained out in the street."
In the meantime, the officers interrogated the boy, who turned out to have a delayed speech disorder. “Mommy drop me off and left me,” he told the police. The mommy was later identified as a 30-year-old woman, Annie Rivera, who had been arrested on child neglect charges. Officers reported that Rivera had no idea where the boy was, even after 12 hours of him being missing from home.
The boy is now in the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families, while his mommy is being held by a $2,500 bond by the Miami-Dade County Judge.
More on Scoop Upworthy
Hotel chain worker 'steals' supplies to give to homeless man, says it's the right thing to do
Share on Facebook
