Crime & Safety
Grabby Scamp Sparks Confrontation at Tinley Park Golf Expo: Cops
A worker drew the line when he thought the 9-year-old grabbed too many free giveaway items, police said.
A Chicago man working the Xfinity booth at the Tinley Park Golf Expo got fed up with a 9-year-old grabbing free giveaway items and ended up getting into it with the kid’s father, police said.
John Abad, 33, was charged with disorderly conduct for his alleged treatment of the child’s father.
Abad reportedly told police he was working at the Golf Expo Feb. 8 when a group came through and he gave a boy a free “giveaway item.”
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The police did not say what Abad was handing out, but the kid must have liked it because he came back for another and then returned a third time.
That was when Abad “said he put his arm out in front of the boy to stop his forward movement,” according to police.
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“Mr. Abad said he told the boy he could not have any more items,” according to police. “Mr. Abad said the father came over and asked him why he was touching the boy. Mr. Abad said he told the father the boy was stealing items from the table. The father replied the boy was not stealing and they began to argue.”
The child’s father, Darius Parker, 44, reportedly told police he “turned around to see where (his son) was and saw Mr. Abad pushing him.”
“Mr. Parker said he confronted Mr. Abad about touching” the child, police said.
“Mr. Abad told him (his son) was stealing,” police said. “Mr. Parker did not believe (the child) had stolen anything. Mr. Parker said they argued about the incident.”
Parker reportedly told police his son “may have gone back to get an additional item, but he is 9 years old and may not have known he should not be getting more items.”
Parker went to the lobby to wait for the cops to arrive, according to police, and said he was “confronted by Mr. Abad who tried to continue the argument. Mr. Parker said Mr. Abad ‘got in his face’ and puffed his chest out towards Mr. Parker aggressively.”
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