The father of the 2-year-old boy who vanished during a custodial visit last month may have told the tot’s mom at knifepoint that he threw their son into the Bronx River, law enforcement sources said Tuesday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
