spacemanspiff
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http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/4630765p-4588981c.html
SAVVY: When two men in truck try to grab her, she remembers mother's advice.
By PETER PORCO
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: January 15, 2004)
A 10-year-old's quick thinking foiled two men who tried to snatch her into a pickup Wednesday morning in Fairview as she walked to school, according to the Anchorage Police Department.
Not only was the child smart enough to evade her would-be captors, police said, but she also came away with good descriptions of the two men involved and the pickup they tried to pull her into.
Police are looking for the men and asking anyone who may have information about them or the truck to call police at 786-8900.
The incident occurred shortly after 8:30 a.m. in an alley behind the Twin Dragon restaurant at East 15th Avenue and Gambell Street, according to police.
The girl, a student at Denali Elementary School at East Ninth Avenue and A Street, normally walks there with her brother, said police spokeswoman Anita Shell. But the brother was sick Wednesday morning, and the girl left her house at 8:30 a.m. alone.
"The child appears to be very savvy," Shell said. "I spoke to her mother. Her mother does a lot of 'what if?' scenarios with her, emphasizing personal safety: 'What if you got lost in the mall? What if someone offered you a ride?' The mother said that if anyone tried to abduct her, she should walk in the opposite direction of the vehicle or get on the other side of the street."
The child took the advice to heart, according to police reports.
As she walked west on the right side of the alley, she saw a pickup idling ahead on the same side.
"She had no partner," Shell said. "So her sense of personal safety was a little elevated, and when she saw this truck, she was concerned."
The girl began crossing diagonally left. As she was passing the truck, the vehicle pulled forward and over toward her, Shell said.
"The driver opened his door and the passenger steered the vehicle while the driver tried to grab her through the open door," she said. The girl, however, "dodged" the would-be abductor and jumped behind a large trash container, according to Shell.
The child then ran back down the alley and was soon at her house, telling her mother the story, Shell said. Altogether the girl was gone about six minutes.
The mother called police immediately.
The girl said the vehicle was a red, extended-cab pickup with a smaller door behind the driver's door and a white stripe running the length of the truck, Shell said. On the rear window was a decal of "Calvin" urinating, she said.
The driver was described as having dark skin and perhaps wearing a black leather coat. The passenger was said to be white and was wearing a lightweight jacket and a green checkered, possibly flannel, shirt. He had a graying goatee and very short hair.
"She considered his hair a buzz cut," Shell said.
"This is a scary thing," she said. "God knows what would have happened to that little girl if she had gotten taken."
Daily News reporter Peter Porco can be reached at [email protected] or 257-4582.
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i dont know many 10 yr olds that are this smart!
SAVVY: When two men in truck try to grab her, she remembers mother's advice.
By PETER PORCO
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: January 15, 2004)
A 10-year-old's quick thinking foiled two men who tried to snatch her into a pickup Wednesday morning in Fairview as she walked to school, according to the Anchorage Police Department.
Not only was the child smart enough to evade her would-be captors, police said, but she also came away with good descriptions of the two men involved and the pickup they tried to pull her into.
Police are looking for the men and asking anyone who may have information about them or the truck to call police at 786-8900.
The incident occurred shortly after 8:30 a.m. in an alley behind the Twin Dragon restaurant at East 15th Avenue and Gambell Street, according to police.
The girl, a student at Denali Elementary School at East Ninth Avenue and A Street, normally walks there with her brother, said police spokeswoman Anita Shell. But the brother was sick Wednesday morning, and the girl left her house at 8:30 a.m. alone.
"The child appears to be very savvy," Shell said. "I spoke to her mother. Her mother does a lot of 'what if?' scenarios with her, emphasizing personal safety: 'What if you got lost in the mall? What if someone offered you a ride?' The mother said that if anyone tried to abduct her, she should walk in the opposite direction of the vehicle or get on the other side of the street."
The child took the advice to heart, according to police reports.
As she walked west on the right side of the alley, she saw a pickup idling ahead on the same side.
"She had no partner," Shell said. "So her sense of personal safety was a little elevated, and when she saw this truck, she was concerned."
The girl began crossing diagonally left. As she was passing the truck, the vehicle pulled forward and over toward her, Shell said.
"The driver opened his door and the passenger steered the vehicle while the driver tried to grab her through the open door," she said. The girl, however, "dodged" the would-be abductor and jumped behind a large trash container, according to Shell.
The child then ran back down the alley and was soon at her house, telling her mother the story, Shell said. Altogether the girl was gone about six minutes.
The mother called police immediately.
The girl said the vehicle was a red, extended-cab pickup with a smaller door behind the driver's door and a white stripe running the length of the truck, Shell said. On the rear window was a decal of "Calvin" urinating, she said.
The driver was described as having dark skin and perhaps wearing a black leather coat. The passenger was said to be white and was wearing a lightweight jacket and a green checkered, possibly flannel, shirt. He had a graying goatee and very short hair.
"She considered his hair a buzz cut," Shell said.
"This is a scary thing," she said. "God knows what would have happened to that little girl if she had gotten taken."
Daily News reporter Peter Porco can be reached at [email protected] or 257-4582.
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i dont know many 10 yr olds that are this smart!
