‘God sent me there’: Homeless man saves boy, 6, he found wandering the streets

MIAMI (WPLG) - A Florida community is praising a man who is currently homeless for rescuing a 6-year-old boy he spotted wandering the streets alone at night.

Arnett Johnson has been sleeping on a bench in Miami’s Allapattah neighborhood for six months after he served his time in prison. About 11 p.m. last Wednesday, he spotted a 6-year-old boy wandering the streets.

“I’m looking around for the parent, but I looked and don’t see nobody, you know what I’m saying? So, what is this kid doing out here at night?” Johnson said.

He knew immediately that something was wrong, so he called Miami police and stayed with the little boy until authorities arrived.

“God sent me there, so I had to do what God say do,” Johnson said.

Investigators say the boy, who has delayed speech, told them, “Mommy drop me off and left me.”

Police later identified his mother as 30-year-old Annie Rivera, who is now under arrest and facing a child neglect charge. Officers say the boy was missing for more than 12 hours, and his mom claimed she had no idea he was gone.

It’s a story that could have turned out much worse but didn’t – all because of an unlikely guardian angel.

“It’s dangerous every day out here,” Johnson said. “Anyone would have done the same thing I did, you know?”

Rivera cried in front of a Miami-Dade County judge in bond court Friday. She was ordered held on a $2,500 bond, which she has since posted.

Her son is now in the care of the Florida Department of Children and Families.