Deputies: Man lifted boy off ground by ratchet strap around neck

Cape Girardeau County sheriff’s deputies on Friday arrested a Fredericktown, Missouri, man suspected of choking a 4-year-old boy with a ratchet strap in Cape Girardeau County, deputies said.

The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged David C. Snider, 41, with endangering the welfare of a child.

Snider’s bond was set at $5,000 cash or surety.

A witness said the boy was swinging from the strap attached to a tree in the front yard of a trailer in the 200 block of Lindsey Lane in rural Cape Girardeau County, according to a probable-cause statement filed in the case by deputy Michael Landreth.

Snider told the boy to stop, then said he was going to teach the boy not to do it again, Landreth wrote.

Snider tightened the strap around the boy’s neck and used it to lift him several inches off the ground, according to the statement.

Snider admitted to Landreth he placed the strap on the boy’s neck and applied pressure, Landreth wrote.

Three witnesses told Landreth they saw the event, two saying Snider pulled the boy up by his neck a foot off the ground, according to the statement.

The boy’s mother made the original report of the incident to deputies, Landreth wrote.

Landreth did not observe visible injuries on the 4-year-old, but photographs of the child were taken, according to the statement.

Landreth retrieved the ratchet strap hanging from Snider’s roof, Landreth wrote.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

200 block of Lindsey Lane, Jackson, Mo.