La Pine man acquitted in Bend Walmart kidnap attempt

(Updated with jury acquittal)

A 32-year-old La Pine man was arrested on an attempted kidnapping charge Monday night, accused of following a 2-year-old Bend boy around the Bend Wal-Mart store and trying to leave with him, police said.

Police responded shortly before 8 p.m. to the reported abduction try earlier in the evening at the Wal-Mart on Pinebrook Boulevard, said Sgt. Todd Fletcher.

An employee reported seeing a man try to walk out of the store with a small child, Fletcher said. The boy did not leave with the man and was reunited with his mother before officers arrived.

Police contacted witnesses who said a small child was with his mother but had wandered away.

Fletcher said it appeared the suspect, identified as Dennis Wayne Anderson Jr., had been walking around the store, following and mirroring the boy’s actions, Fletcher said.

Anderson contacted the boy and talked with him, then began walking with him toward an exit, the sergeant said. When the boy’s mother realized he was missing, she called for him, and he returned. Anderson was then seen leaving the store.

Officers viewed security-camera video of the incident and recognized Anderson, who Fletcher said had been contacted by police earlier in the day.

The officers knew Anderson lived in La Pine and likely was heading there, Fletcher said. With the help of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police, Anderson was contacted and arrested on a charge of second-degree attempted kidnapping.

Anderson was taken to the county jail in Bend, where he was held Tuesday on an initial $15,000 bail, until an afternoon court appearance, where the bail was doubled, to $30,000. He is due back in court Dec. 20 at 1:30 p.m. for arraignment on an expected formal indictment.

A jury acquitted Anderson of the attempted kidnapping charge after a trial in early April. He still faced charges of mail theft, ID theft, forgery and burglary in a separate case.

Online court documents show Anderson’s record includes a 2011 arrest on charges of fourth-degree assault and recklessly endangering another person, as well as a contempt of court petition last month involving alleged violation of an ‘immediate danger’ order prohibiting proximity to a family member.