Dad of missing boy, 2, may have told tot's mom he threw son off NYC bridge : sources
Arius Williams, 20, the dad of little Montrell Williams – who has been missing since May 10 – allegedly pulled a knife on the boy's mother when they ran into each other on the street Sunday, the sources said.
During the confrontation, the armed dad allegedly claimed he threw the couple's son off the Bruckner Bridge, according to the sources.
4 Arius Williams, 20, the father of little Montrell Williams, disturbingly claimed he threw his toddler son into the Bronx River, sources said.
NYPD
Surveillance footage from that night – showing Arius throwing a black bag into the river – could back up that claim, the sources said.
The NYPD dispatched dive teams to comb the area Monday night but found nothing, and were continuing to search Tuesday, according to the sources.
Arius was ordered held without bail on a warrant for custodial interference Monday, after refusing to tell a family court judge his son's whereabouts, cops and sources said.
4 Williams made the sickening claim about a month after his 2-year-old son's disappearance, sources said.
Desheania Andrews
Charges are pending against the dad in connection to the knifepoint incident, the sources said.
The disturbing ordeal unfolded on May 10 when Montrell – who was dropped off by his mom a day earlier for a custody visit – was at his dad's Hunts Point Avenue house for a Mother's Day celebration, the sources said.
At some point during that gathering, Arius – who has split custody of Montrell and visitation rights – took the boy, according to the sources.
4 NYPD divers are searching the waterway for any signs of the missing tot.
Desheania Andrews
Over the next few days, the boy's concerned mom called the cops, who appeared to have told her they couldn't intervene if her son is on a regularly scheduled visit, the sources said.
A judge issued a warrant for the elusive dad after the mom appeared in family court on May 28, saying she had no idea of her young son or ex's whereabouts, according to the sources.
And now, the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau is probing the department's investigative work surrounding Montrell's case – namely whether the boy's disappearance should have been investigated as a custodial interference case rather than simply a missing person search.
4 The boy was attending a Mother's Day gathering with his dad — who has split custody of him — before he vanished, sources said.
Google Maps
Anyone with information on his disappearance is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X @NYPDTips.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
17 minutes ago
- New York Post
Mayor Adams rips Zohran Mamdani's ‘extremely dangerous' plan to cut NYPD task force that responded to NYC massacre
Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday ripped socialist mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani's vow to cut the elite NYPD task force that responded to the deadly Manhattan mass shooting — warning the move would be 'extremely dangerous.' Hizzoner lashed out after it emerged his mayoral rival had previously promised to disband the police department's Strategic Response Group — or SRG — if he's elected as the Big Apple's next mayor. 'They are the elite of the department,' Adams told CNBC when asked about Mamdani's plan to cut the special operations division that quickly mobilizes in the event of citywide emergencies. 4 Mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani vowed to disband the SRG if elected. Getty Images Adams said the tactical unit — who were among the first to storm the scene of Monday's massacre — is made up of 'well-trained' officers that know how to combat 'extremely dangerous situations.' 'When you start dismantling the pieces of the law enforcement apparatus that is specifically designed to carry out functions — that is extremely dangerous,' Adams said. 'A lack of knowledge and understanding of these roles really could harm law enforcement.' 4 Mamdani's social media post from December where he said he would 'disband' the NYPD's SRG task force. X/ZohranKMamdani 4 The SRG was among the first NYPD groups to respond to Monday's horrific massacre. Robert Miller 'There are no routine jobs in the police department. They can turn violent instantly,' he continued. 'So I think it's the wrong decision to do and we should never endanger public safety in the city. It's not an experiment, it's experience.' The mayor's reaction came after it emerged Mamdani had promised in December 2024 to axe the task force — despite the far-left Queens assemblyman expressing how 'grateful' he was for the first responders who responded to Monday's attack inside the Midtown skyscraper that left four people dead. How the shooting unfolded Reports of the shooting at 345 Park Ave. start coming in around 6:28 p.m. Shane Tamura, 27, is seen getting out of a black BMW between 51st and 52nd streets with an M4 rifle. He enters the lobby and turns right, where he shoots police officer Didarul Islam, 36, dead. Tamura guns down a woman cowering behind a pillar in the lobby, sprays more bullets and walks toward the elevator bank — where he shoots dead a security guard crouching at his desk. One more man reports being shot and injured in the lobby. He was in critical but stable condition. The gunman allows a woman to walk out of the elevators unharmed before heading up to the 33rd floor, where building owner Rudin Properties' offices are located, 'and begins to walk the floor, firing as he traveled.' One woman is shot and killed on that floor before Tamura shoots himself in the chest. It's unclear how long the mayhem lasted. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch posted on X at 7:52 p.m.: 'The scene has been contained and the lone shooter has been neutralized.' 'As Mayor, I will disband the SRG, which has cost taxpayers millions in lawsuit settlements and brutalized countless New Yorkers exercising their First Amendment rights,' the socialist mayoral frontrunner wrote in a social media post during his campaign. The NYPD's chief of detectives, John Chell, echoed the mayor's sentiment, telling Fox News' 'Fox & Friends' that the elite group of officers are 'our best trained.' 'As incident commander, they give me a level of confidence,' the chief said. 'I know certain things they get done. They're the best we've got.' 4 Chilling images show the shooter walking across the plaza of 345 Park Avenue during rush hour. Obtained by NY Post The defense of the task force came less than 24 hours after Mamdani praised the first responders who dealt with the shooting. 'I am holding the victims, their families, and the NYPD officer in critical condition in my thoughts,' Mamdani wrote on social media. 'Grateful for all of our first responders on the ground.' Mamdani, meanwhile, has faced a wave of backlash over his past smears of the NYPD, including social media posts from 2020 when he called to 'Defund the Police' in the wake of the George Floyd protests that swept the nation.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
NEW: NYC office shooter's gun purchase under investigation
'Fox & Friends First' co-host Todd Piro reports the latest information in the New York City high-rise shooting as police begin an investigation into the shooter's gun purchase.
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Mamdani ripped for past anti-police rhetoric after posting tribute to slain NYPD officer
New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani faced renewed scrutiny Tuesday for his anti-police rhetoric after his social media posts mourning a slain NYPD officer. As New York City reels from a deadly mass shooting in midtown Manhattan that killed four, including an NYPD officer, Mamdani attempted to voice solidarity. Mamdani, who was just married at a guarded compound in Uganda, tweeted Monday, "I'm heartbroken to learn of the horrific shooting in Midtown, and I am holding the victims, their families, and the NYPD officer in critical condition in my thoughts. Grateful for all of our first responders on the ground." The New York politician also posted Tuesday that the officer, Didarul Islam, was a "Bangladeshi immigrant," highlighting an anecdote about how, "When he joined the police department, his mother asked him why he would pursue such a dangerous job. He told her it was to leave behind a legacy that his family could be proud of. He has done that, and more. I pray for him, his family, and honor the legacy of service and sacrifice he leaves behind." However, Mamdani's critics argued these tributes to an officer slain in the line of duty seemed like a cynical shift from his past statements. New York City councilwoman Inna Vernikov retorted, "Come on, @ZohranKMamdani. Spare us the BS," along with an image of a Mamdani tweet from June 8, 2020, saying, "No, we want to defund the police." "This you?" radio personality Dana Loesch asked as she retweeted his same past call to defund the police. Another past tweet that particularly caught attention was from a few days after the 2020 election when a user claimed to have seen a policeman crying in his car and Mamdani responded, "Nature is healing." Fox News' Guy Benson shared screenshots of that post as well as one from June 28, 2020, where Mamdani said, "We don't need an investigation to know that the NYPD is racist, anti-queer & a major threat to public safety. What we need is to #DefundTheNYPD. But your deal with @NYCMayor uses budget tricks to keep as many cops as possible on the beat. NO to fake cuts - defund the police." Benson wrote in response, "There's a crisis in the city Zohran Mamdani wants to run. A member of its police force, which he deeply despises and wants to defund, has been murdered. He is overseas, reportedly partying at the lavish and heavily-guarded compound his family owns. And yes, he *loathes* NYPD." "It's also interesting that he's ripped NYPD as 'anti-queer,' while holding (one of) his wedding celebration(s) in a country where gays are punished for existing by some combination of lengthy imprisonment & execution. He's also very concerned about 'human rights' in the Jewish state, of course," he added. Political commentator David J. Freeman, better known as "Gunther Eagleman," resurfaced the tweet and replied to a Mamdani post, "Imagine how many brothers in Blue were mourning the loss of a brother today and see this post. You are f-----g pathetic." Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani for comment and did not receive an immediate reply.
