SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) is investigating two attempted kidnappings that happened within a few miles of each other.
Police believe they are connected.
“The suspect matched the same description,” said SAPD spokesperson Lt. Michelle Ramos.
On Monday night, the family of a 12-year-old girl who fought off her attacker spoke exclusively with KENS 5. They asked us not to publicly identify them with the man still out there.
“I haven’t been able to sleep for a couple days since it happened,” said the young girl. “I’ll sleep for one hour and I just wake up with a terrible dream.”
Physically, she’s OK. But mentally, the young girl is traumatized.
Around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, the girl was walking with her friend and cousin along the 400 block of Villareal Street. She told KENS 5 she noticed a maroon vehicle stop next to them.
“Then my cousin said to, 'Walk backwards.' So that’s what we did,” she said. “Then he backed up and that’s when he got out of his car, and he started chasing my cousin. My cousin tried to get away and he grabbed me by my arms and tried to drag me to his car.”
The girl says she punched the man as hard as she could while her cousin pepper-sprayed him. The three girls then ran to a nearby convenience store for help.
“That’s like the worst call a parent can get,” said the victim’s mother. “I just flew – like I don’t even how fast I was going – to get to the scene. We as parents don’t think anything is going to happen to our kids and we think, ‘Oh, it’s fine, they can just go by themselves.’ But if there’s no reason to go by themselves, go with them. Don’t let them walk alone. We just never know what sicko crazy person is out there.”
According to witnesses, the driver had been circling the area.
“The crazy thing about this case is you had three young girls traveling together in broad daylight,” said Ramos. “Thank goodness they were alert and paying attention to their surroundings.”
Ramos says the same man might have tried to abduct another woman just 24 hours prior.
According to police, a 27-year-old woman was walking along the 5600 block of Wales Avenue on Friday when she was grabbed. Ramos says that woman was also dragged towards a maroon SUV before she fought him off and called 911.
“He looked really skinny,” said one of the girls who was with the 12-year-old during the attack. “He had brown eyes and long eyelashes. My message (to women and girls) is don’t be scared to fight and run and scream for help.”
Investigators are looking for a young man, possibly in his early-20s, who drives a 2009 or 2010 maroon Nissan Murano. Anyone with information is urged to call SAPD’s Special Victims Unit at 210-207-2313.
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