This 11-year old Florida girl fights off kidnapper in the middle of the day! The Florida man has been arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping. How did this little girl fight off an abductor?
Wednesday morning an 11-year old Florida girl fights off kidnapper in broad-daylight. This little girl was waiting for her school bus in Pensacola, Florida when the 30-year old suspect attacked.
Escambia County Sheriff, Chip Simmons, said in a statement that the suspect was arrested later that day after a search involving 50 officers.
A surveillance video released by the sheriff’s office shows the girl kneeling at the bus stop when a white Dodge SUV stops. The man gets out and charges at the girl. Not only that, the man was wielding a knife!
In the video, the man grabs the girl and with a struggle the 11-year old breaks free and runs. The suspect then flees the scene.
Sherriff, Chip Simmons said “I cannot help but think this could have ended very differently. Had this 11-year-old victim not given up, then this could have ended terribly.”
Florida-Man Suspect Has Been Charged
Jared Paul Stanga has been arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping of a child under 13. Additional charges of aggravated assault with a weapon and simple battery have been placed.
Stanga’s attorney, Robert Dees, had no comment.
Escambia County Judge, Kerra Smith, order Stanga to be held with a bond of $1.5 million for the attempted kidnapping charge. An additional $500,000 for the aggravated assault and $5,000 on the battery charge.
How Did The Catch The Kidnapper?
According to the sheriff, the young girl was playing with blue slime at the time of the attempted abduction. When they found Stanga he had the same slime on his arm.
Further evidence that he was the kidnapper, was the silver bumper of the suspects car had been freshly painted black.
Sheriff Simmons said in a statement that the same man approached the girl two weeks earlier at the same bus stop.
How The Florida Girl Fights Off The Kidnapper
The young girl credits “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” for some quick thinking that helped authorities identify the suspect.
The 11-year-old only identified as Alyssa said she marked her attacker with the blue slime she was playing with. “I know that might be better evidence if the cops did find him”.
And that is what happened!
Alyssa told Today News “The man got out of his vehicle holding a knife, came towards me and I tried to run but he caught me.”
When asked how she felt about her lucky escape, Alyssa said she believed “SVU” Detective Olivia Benson would probably tell her, “you’re brave and good job!”
In the end, the victim had a few scratches and is overcoming the emotional trauma from her horrifying experience. However, this is one tough little girl and with the help from her parents, we hope she makes a swift recovery.
How Many Children Go Missing In The U.S. Each Year?
In lieu of this terrifying story, it is important to make note of how many children do not meet the same lucky fait as little Alyssa.
Over 460,000 children go missing in the United States each year. That’s more than 1,260 kids each day.
It is crucial that as parents, teachers and authority figures we teach our kids about the importance of potential dangers.
For prevention and tips on how to keep our children safe, check out Global Missing Kids for more information.
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