3 11-year-old girls save 6-year-old from attempted kidnapping at ice cream truck

KENT, Wash. (TCN) -- Local police are praising three 11-year-old girls for thwarting an alleged attempting kidnapping because they noticed the 6-year-old victim "looked afraid."

According to the Kent Police Department, on Tuesday, July 16, at 8:18 p.m., officers responded to an apartment complex on Kent Kangley Road regarding an attempted kidnapping in progress. The person who called 911 "witnessed the man picking her up while she screamed and stated that the man did not appear to be a relative."

Officers arrived within minutes of the call and were able to locate the suspect thanks to the caller's "excellent description of the man." The 40-year-old suspect, who was not named, allegedly tried to "hastily walk away," but officers caught up with him and detained him. He was arrested on a charge of kidnapping.

Kent Police said an ice cream truck pulled into the apartment complex parking lot not long before the 911 call. The three 11-year-olds were reportedly walking to the truck when saw the suspect holding a 6-year-old neighbor's wrist. The young girl's brother reportedly called her over, but she "was unable to break his hold."

Police said the little girl "looked afraid" and that the suspect was "pulling her forcibly along." The girl told the suspect to let her go, but he refused.

At that point, the 11-year-old girls intervened and started recording the incident on their phones. Police said they told the man to free her, but then he allegedly "picked up the child and tried to 'speed walk' away."

According to police, "They confronted the man asking if he knew her and when he stated he did, the little girl shook her head side to side to indicate he was lying." Her parents also confirmed that they did not know the suspect.

The suspect put her down and the three other girls pulled her away from him. The suspect fled as the girls took the victim back to her apartment.

In their statement, Kent Police commended the witnesses and said, "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 preteen 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."

Police called the 11-year-olds "selfless" and "amazing."

MORE: