ANTIOCH, Tenn. (WKRN) — An Antioch mother said her teenage daughter was nearly kidnapped Thursday morning while waiting for her school bus.
The alleged incident happened in a neighborhood near Penny Brink Drive and Bart Drive in Antioch on Thursday, Sept. 12.
Amanda Hammers told News 2 her daughter, a sophomore at LEAD Southeast in Nashville, walks a few blocks each morning to her bus stop. However, Hammers said a traumatic event unfolded around 6 a.m. as her daughter waited alone for her ride to school.
False threats lead to concerns, arrests in multiple Middle TN school districts “Two men in a gold, brown minivan had stopped and started screaming out the window at her,” said Hammers. “The passenger hopped out and ran around to where she was, and tried to pull her in the van by her arm. She said she tried to fight them off, they lost grip of her arm, and luckily she got away.”
“You never think that something’s going to happen to your baby, until it does happen to your baby,” she continued.
Hammers said a neighbor heard the commotion and came out to help her daughter before police arrived. The van drove off, and Hammers said her daughter was shaken up.
“I get a knock on my door and it’s a police officer. He has my daughter behind him, and she’s just crying, in tears, you know, she’s all cut up, she has a few bruises,” Hammers recalled.
However, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) released a statement Friday morning, stating that the incident appears to be a case of mistaken identity.
Mother charged after school bus fight in Nashville According to police, detectives spotted a van at the same intersection Friday morning that matched the description of the suspect vehicle.
During an interview, the driver of the van told detectives that she frequently drops off a male passenger at the intersection, where then walks down Penny Brink Drive to pick up his truck for work.
Three occupants inside the van — a female driver and two male passengers — allegedly told police they were all inside the van Thursday morning and were unsure why the teen began to run and scream as soon as the passenger exited the van.
In a release, police didn’t include any mention of the man grabbing the teen or passengers yelling at her from inside the van.
Despite being afraid, Hammers said her daughter still went to school. She won’t, however, be taking the bus again.
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“No no no. I’ve lived there for 10 years, and it’s just getting bad. It is,” Hammers told News 2. “I don’t feel safe to even let my children play out in the yard.”
Hammers’ advice to other parents: “Be cautious, you know, keep an eye on them. Even if it’s not your own kid!”
According to MNPD, the teen told detectives that she was alone at the bus stop in the dark, which was not typical for her, and said she was nervous when she saw the man get out of the van.
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