MONTREAL – An Ottawa man with a long criminal history is facing a charge of attempting to kidnap a six-year-old girl from a store in suburban Montreal.
Michael Fisher, 35, currently resides at an Ottawa mental hospital but is accused of visiting a Montreal Wal-Mart Sunday where he tried to lure a child away from her mother.
Police in Montreal say the mother had lost site of her daughter for mere moments when the incident occurred.
"She found her not too far from her with a man that was pulling her hair and pulling her wrist saying come with me come with me," police spokesman Raphael Bergeron told CTV.
"Then the mother started yelling."
The man was arrested moments later.
Court heard Fisher currently resides at the Royal Ottawa Hospital and that he faced assault and kidnapping charges a few years ago but was found not criminally responsible.
He's faced a slew of other charges since 1999 that include mischief, arson and assault.
He has yet to enter a plea but the Crown is expected to oppose bail when he does.
"Due to the nature of the infraction, the gravity of the offence, we think that a judge will have to decide whether or not he should be released on bail," Crown prosecutor Steve Lariviere told reporters.
"We think that he should be met by specialists in order for the courts to have a global picture of his ability to stand trial."
Pina Arcamone of Missing Children's Network said the incident should serve as a reminder to parents that "it just takes a few seconds for a child to wander off and lose site of its mom."
Fisher returns to court Tuesday for a bail hearing.