‘Get away from me!’: Woman stops would-be Vancouver kidnapper

VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) — A woman who heard an 11-year-old girl screaming scared off a would-be kidnapper Sunday afternoon at a Vancouver neighborhood park.

The incident at Lieser Crest Park happened around 3:40 p.m., police said, and released surveillance video of the moments immediately before and after the attempted abduction.

Vancouver PD Facebook page – Surveillance Video of Suspect

In that video, a man is seen getting out of a parked SUV, possibly a Jeep, and walks into the park. He is then seen running back to the SUV and driving away quickly, headed north on Fredericksburg Way.

Sgt. Julie Ballou with the Digital Evidence Cyber Crime Unit said the girl has been by herself on the playground when the incident happened.

“The suspect made contact with that child, grabbed onto that child and then proceeded to try and drag the child from the park,” Sgt. Ballou said.

The neighbor — who asked KOIN 6 News to remain anonymous — said she could hear the girl screaming for help, noting that “she was shaking and crying pretty badly.” She ran over to the girl as she dialed 911.

“She was just screaming, ‘Get away from me! I don’t know you! Get away from me!'” the woman told KOIN 6 News. “And she kept getting louder, louder and was backing away from this person.”

The woman began running toward the screaming girl.

“The man had started running away from the girl as she just continued to scream and she went off into the field and he went, ran towards the play structure, hopped over a fence, ran around the back of his car, got in the front seat in the driver’s side and sped off,” she said.

According to the neighbor, the man had told the girl that she was his daughter and “kept trying to convince her that she was his daughter. And she said, ‘No, I don’t know you.’”

The suspect — who authorities said is not known by the child — is a white man in his 20s or 30s with short brown hair and a short beard. He was wearing a black hoodie, black basketball shorts with red on the sides and dark shoes. Officials said he is about 5-feet-8 and 140 pounds with tattoos on his face and hand — and possibly a tattoo on his stomach.

An immediate search for the suspect began. Vancouver detectives are actively working this case.

Anyone with information should call the Vancouver Police Department.

KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story.

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