Hobsons Bay police say there is no evidence to support a woman’s Facebook claim that someone tried to snatch her baby at Central Square shopping centre in Altona Meadows on Tuesday last week.
The woman posted that she was grocery shopping when another woman tried to take her baby, but she was able to stop her. The woman claimed she filed a police report.
Hobsons Bay police’s Inspector Richard Paterson said no report had been made. Centre management, Aldi and Coles say they are not aware of any such incident.
Police became aware of the Facebook post last Wednesday and phoned the woman, but she hung up on them, Inspector Paterson said.
“If they’re serious allegations, they’re things that we have to at least look into,” he said. “Anything that’s put up on social media, we need to corroborate it.
“If people are only willing to put it up on social media and they’re not prepared to speak any further about it … it’s hard to follow up. Police have attempted to contact her on a couple of occasions … apart from the Facebook post, there’s been no other evidence.”
The post was deleted from the woman’s Facebook page but was still being widely shared by Hobsons Bay Facebook groups and concerned parents and residents.
The woman’s Facebook account has since been deactivated.
Goya Dmytryshchak
