EATONTOWN – A New York man was arrested after police found his girlfriend's 5-year-old son tied to the back of the motorcycle he was driving on Wyckoff Road on Sunday, authorities said.

Frank Albanese, 53, of Staten Island, New York, was driving the motorcycle southbound on Wyckoff Road when police Officer Ryan Braswell working a ‘Click It or Ticket’ detail spotted a small child that appeared to be tied with twine to the bike, police said.

The twine appeared to be tied around the child’s feet and waist, was blowing in the wind and the helmet he had on appeared to be too big, police said.

Braswell turned around to pull over the motorcycle but it had already pulled into the Quick Chek parking lot, police said. Albanese had gone inside the store and left the child on the back of the bike, police said.

The police officer walked up to the child, where he noticed the boy’s feet were tied to the rear passenger pegs of the motorcycle and the twine was also wrapped around his waist to tie him to the rear seat, authorities said.

A woman in a pickup truck next to the motorcycle told Braswell that she was the child’s mother and Albanese was her boyfriend, police said. She allegedly told the officer that she was letting her son, who lives in Perth Amboy, ride on the bike to Staten Island and she was following behind in the truck.

It took the mother approximately four to five minutes to untie the twine from around the child, police said. The helmets both Albanese and the child were wearing were not approved by the Department of Transportation, police said.

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Detective Lt. Lawrence Tyler said Albanese believed using the twine would help keep the young boy safe.

An investigation revealed that Albanese had outstanding warrants and he was taken into custody, police said. The child was turned over to his mother and the state’s Division of Child Protection and Permanency was notified, police said.

Albanese was issued several motor vehicle violations, including failure to wear a DOT-approved helmet, driving with a suspended license and reckless driving. He was turned over to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office on the outstanding warrants, police said.

Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Jim O'Neill said Albanese had warrants on charges of burglary, theft by unlawful taking and criminal mischief. In a separate complaint, Albanese was also charged with theft and seven counts of issuing bad checks, O’Neill said.

O’Neill did not immediately have additional information on those cases.