Chrissy Payne

Introduction

Chrissy Payne is a 47-year-old Brooklyn woman who was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child after allegedly grabbing a 4-year-old boy from his grandmother outside a McDonald’s in Crown Heights and trying to walk him across the street before being fought off by the child’s mother, an off-duty police officer. The September 14, 2026 encounter — caught on surveillance video and shared widely after the NYPD asked the public for help identifying the woman — ended with Payne in handcuffs late Friday, September 18, according to police. She has no stated occupation in police statements or press accounts, and the case against her remains in its earliest stage: as of Saturday she had not yet been arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court

Background Information

Little has been reported about Payne beyond what police and court paperwork have disclosed. She is 47 years old and lives in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn, according to police. The New York Post and Daily News both reported, citing law-enforcement sources, that she has five prior arrests — all in 2026 — involving assault and petit larceny, though the dispositions of those cases have not been reported and she has not been described as having any conviction

The child at the center of the case, J’Marke Roberts, was standing with his 66-year-old grandmother in front of the McDonald’s at 1133 Eastern Parkway near Utica Avenue at around 5 p.m. on Monday, September 14, when a woman police later identified as Payne allegedly took hold of him. The grandmother and the boy’s mother — Anyia James Roberts, an off-duty NYPD officer who is seven months pregnant — intervened, and the woman fled empty-handed down Utica Avenue. The boy was not physically injured. Little detail about Payne’s own circumstances, her work history, or her family has appeared in any reporting, which has focused instead on the Roberts family’s account of the incident

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from police statements, charging documents, and family accounts as described in news reporting. Payne has been charged but not tried, and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. No statement from Payne or an attorney representing her has been reported.

According to police and the family’s account, the woman approached J’Marke as he stood outside the restaurant with his grandmother, grabbed him by the shirt, and began pulling him toward the crosswalk. The Post reported, citing sources, that Payne allegedly tried to cross Eastern Parkway with the boy before his mother grabbed him back. The child’s father, Gentle Roberts, told The Post the episode became a tug-of-war: “The lady grabbed him by his shirt on his shoulder, and she wouldn’t let go. She was fighting his grandmother. They were pulling him back and forth, and he started crying.” He said the woman repeated “That’s my kid!” more than once during the struggle

The grandmother was able to stop the woman from taking the boy, and she ran off southbound on Utica Avenue, police said. The incident was reported to the NYPD’s 77th Precinct, and the boy was not physically injured. Detectives released surveillance images of a woman in a white shirt, black shorts, and black sandals on Tuesday and Thursday, asking anyone who recognized her to come forward through Crime Stoppers

Public Reaction and Consequences

Payne was arrested around 11:45 p.m. Friday, September 18, and charged with attempted kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child, police said. The arrest drew immediate attention because of the video and the family’s account of who stopped it: the boy’s mother, Anyia James Roberts, an off-duty officer who was seven months pregnant at the time. “His mom pulled him away from her,” Gentle Roberts told The Post, adding that “she’s a strong woman. She’s back at work today.” He recalled his wife standing her ground while the woman fought with his mother-in-law over the child

News of the arrest — days after police had asked the public to help identify the woman — circulated widely on social media and in New York local news, with commenters singling out both the mother’s intervention and the fact that the suspect had allegedly attempted the snatch in broad daylight on one of Crown Heights’ busiest commercial corners. The NYPD’s release of surveillance stills bearing its Crime Stoppers branding made the woman’s face one of the most recognizable in the city’s crime blotter for the week before her arrest

Current Status

Payne, 47, of Flatlands, is in custody following her September 18 arrest and faces charges of attempted kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child. Her arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court was pending as of Saturday, September 19, according to the Daily News. The charges are allegations; she has not been tried or convicted of anything arising from the September 14 incident and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The dispositions of her five prior 2026 arrests, reported by police to the Post and Daily News, are a separate matter and have not been adjudicated in public reporting

Impact on Their Career/Life

Payne’s life before the arrest has not been described in detail in press accounts, and no employer or profession has been identified. What is known is that she now faces a felony attempted-kidnapping charge carrying potential state prison time if she is convicted, alongside the misdemeanor-level child-endangerment count, and that her name and surveillance image were circulated citywide by the NYPD before her arrest. For the Roberts family, the aftermath has been described in narrowly hopeful terms: J’Marke, though shaken, returned to school that Thursday, and his father said his mother was back at work the same day. “She was saying, ‘That’s my kid!’ She was saying that more than once,” Gentle Roberts told The Post of the woman accused in the case, describing the moment she allegedly claimed the child mid-struggle