Police: Man Attempted to Buy Child off Mother for $200,000

A man attempted to buy an eight-year-old girl from her mother for $200,000 Friday afternoon in a Florida Walmart store, police said.

Authorities arrested Hellmuth Kolb, 81, and charged him with false imprisonment and battery Saturday after he allegedly tried to grab the girl, kiss her, and ask her mother if he could buy the child.

Police said the girl’s mother, Tracy Nigh, had been sitting on a bench with her daughter inside a Port Orange Walmart when she said Kolb walked up to them, asked her if she was married, and asked about her child, WKMG reported.

The man then allegedly asked Nigh repeatedly if he could buy her daughter.

“The first amount was $100,000, the second amount was $150,000 and then the final amount was $200,000,” Nigh said. “I then said ‘No, we have to go.'”

Nigh eventually left with her child when Kolb allegedly grabbed the eight-year-old by her arm, attempted to bring her towards him, and kissed her on the wrist. Nigh snatched her daughter back and rushed away from the area, notifying Walmart security as she left the store, the arrest report stated.

The incident was caught on store surveillance video, which deputies say shows Kolb forcibly grabbing the child against her will.

Deputies identified Kolb through social media and credit card accounts before making the arrest.

Kolb remains in custody at the Volusia County Jail.

Nigh warned other parents of the incident on her Facebook page:

“Shook, rocked and shocked to the core… A man at the Port Orange Walmart offered me 200k for my child today,” she wrote. “Be careful out there women and men with your daughters, wives and the all the women in your life, please!”