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Three 11-year-old girls from Washington State have been applauded for their “selfless bravery” after they helped to prevent the abduction of a six-year-old girl from a residential neighborhood in the Seattle suburb of Kent on Tuesday evening.
Kent Police Department (KPD) said in a statement posted to Facebook that a local man, 40, had been arrested after driving to the East Hill area in an ice-cream truck and attempting to kidnap the child.
The three girls in question, arriving to buy treats for themselves, heard the terrified victim screaming as the man grabbed her wrist and pulled her “forcibly” along, correctly determining that he was not a relative when they heard her urging him to let her go.
The victim’s brother called out to her but she could not break free from the man’s grip, prompting the pre-teens to band together and follow when he tried to leave the scene.
The trio recorded the man on their cell phones and boldly confronted him about what he was doing.
They asked if he knew the girl as the child shook her head vigorously from side to side to signify “no,” at which point the girls grabbed her away from the suspect, who quickly fled on foot.
They then reunited the child with her parents, who confirmed the man was a stranger unknown to the family.
A 911 call was duly placed to report the incident, with an exact description provided to officers by the girls enabling local police to swiftly track the man down, arrest him, and book him on kidnapping charges at Kent County Jail.
Applauding the girls for their heroism, the force wrote in its statement: “They saw their friend and neighbor being taken by a stranger, and stepped in without pause to bring her to safety. We are so proud of you. You are amazing.
“The little girl is now safe, the man is in jail, and we are impressed beyond words at the maturity and protectiveness displayed by these pre-teen girls.
“Without their intervention, the excellent description of the suspect from the 911 caller, and the swift response by multiple KPD Officers, the outcome would have changed dramatically.”
