Three men ransack Amish home, try to kidnap 8-year-old boy, Ohio cops say
One man is in jail after police in Ohio say three men forced their way into the home of an Amish family, robbed them and tried to kidnap an 8-year-old boy.
“This crime in our county is particularly disturbing,” Geauga County Sheriff Scott A. Hildenbrand said at an Oct. 14 news conference streamed by WEWS.
On Oct. 9, a man called 911 and reported he had been robbed by three men who came to his home in a pickup truck and believed took his son, deputies said.
The man told deputies that the men posed as customers to the family business. Then, they used “physical force” to put his son in a headlock and forced their way into the home, deputies said.
The men separated the man and his son and ransacked the place in search of cash, according to deputies.
They threatened to kill the man and take his son if he didn’t give them more money, deputies said.
The man told authorities that the men assaulted him and tased him and his son.
Then, they forced the man to look away as they left the home with the boy, deputies said.
However, the boy told deputies he was able to break away from the men and run to a dark field before going back inside the house. He said they were dragging him to a pickup truck, and he believed he was going to be kidnapped and killed, according to authorities.
The man said he believed the men possibly got away with around $5,000.
“ There’s apparently some rumors out there that these people think the Amish won’t report the crime, that the Amish will just go with the flow, well that is not the case,” Hildenbrand said.
Authorities were able to track down one of the men in Canton. Bradford James Hosler, 33, considered the leader of the group, was arrested Oct. 11.
Hosler was on parole at the time, and a GPS monitoring device put him at the scene when the robbery and attempted kidnapping occurred, according to deputies.
Hosler is charged with kidnapping, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery, court records show.
Authorities say an investigation and search for the other suspects are ongoing.
