WICHITA, Kan. — Authorities have arrested a man who is suspected of trying to grab children at a Wichita-area elementary school playground before stealing a pickup truck from McConnell Air Force Base and slamming it into a gate.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office says 38-year-old Tyler DeBarea ran Tuesday after hitting barricades made of concrete-filled pipes at the base. Deputies later found him and took him into custody. He has been booked into jail on suspicion of kidnapping, battery and criminal threat.
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After the arrest, deputies returned to Wineteer Elementary, where they found five 7- or 8-year-olds who said DeBarea either swatted them on the arm or tried to grab their shirt.
A spokesman for the Derby school district says staff was able to scare him away and move students inside.
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