Chris Hansen, the dude most known for his televised predator busts on the '00s Dateline series To Catch a Predator, was met with a presumably awkward surprise during a recent episode of Crime Watch Daily. After arriving on the scene to bust someone for allegedly trying to meet up with a 13-year-old boy, Hansen was shocked to learn he actually knew the guy.
"I honestly did not realize it until I walked out," Hansen told the Daily Mail Thursday ahead of the episode's premiere. "And then I suddenly recognized him because we used to commute into the city every day together from Connecticut. I could not believe it." The man in question, however, appeared to recognize his old commute buddy almost immediately.
"Oh shit," the man is heard muttering in the video. "No Chris! Chris, please." During a later questioning session, the man attempts to clarify the intentions of his meeting and details his history with Hansen. "Chris Hansen, I know him," the man, who Hansen said would often "chat" with him on the train, revealed. "He's a friend of mine. I commuted with him on the train for years. That's more of an embarrassment than anything."
According to the alleged predator, a scratched eye was to blame for him mistaking the boy's age as 18 instead of the actual 13. "I thought it said 18," the man is seen telling an investigator in the clip, noting that he had proof of an ophthalmologist appointment. "I would never, ever in my entire life meet a 13-year-old... It's disgusting."
