Philadelphia Girl Saved From Abduction By Her 2-Year-Old Brother – Caught On Tape

A 10-year-old Philadelphia girl was saved from a sidewalk abduction in broad daylight thanks at least in part to her 2-year-old brother. The young girl was approached from behind by a man who put his hands over her mouth an tried to carry her away, according to the surveillance tape. Screams by the toddler appear to startle the man, who stumbled and ran away just seconds later.

The would-be child abductor followed the children along the roadway in his car, leaving his door open when he hopped out and ran up to the girl and grabbed her, ABC News reports. The Philadelphia girl sustained only superficial injuries. Philadelphia Special Victims Unit investigator Capt. John Darby said the kidnapper held one hand over the mouth of the 10-year-old girl and placed one hand between her legs, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Capt. Darby also stated the girl told them her 2-year-old brother “screamed louder than anything she’s ever heard before” in an attempt to scare the man away.

The young girl struggled and screamed, fighting off her attacker as best she could and attempting to stay as close as possible to her little brother. The attempted child abduction last only seconds, the attacker fled when faced with continued resistance by the 10-year-old girl.

“The message here has to be very clear: Get this scum off our street,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter stated during a press conference at police headquarters, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “That little girl and her little brother deserve better, and as long as that person is driving around this city, walking around this city, we know that there is a predator on our streets. It’s a sick individual, to do something like that.”

A trip to the corner store in South Philly to purchase ice and water nearly turned into tragedy, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Philadelphia police officers are reviewing the surveillance video which captured the entire attempted abduction to help identify the girl’s attacker. A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest.

The would-be kidnapper drove a white car along Porter Street in the Whitman neighborhood spotted the 10-year-old girl and her 2-year-old brother and then followed them around the corner to Lee Street before getting out of his car. The child abduction surveillance footage shows the girl struggling hard enough to make the attacker drop her – and then attempting to pick her up again.

According to police reports stemming from the Philadelphia child kidnapping surveillance tape footage, the suspect is Hispanic, is his 30s or 40s and approximately 6 feet tall. The white car he attempted to pull the 10-year-old girl into is possibly a Nissan or Mitsubishi midsized sedan with a dent on the driver’s side front quarter panel.