A terrified 16-year-old girl was saved from a man who kidnapped her after mouthing one word to a shop worker.
The teenager was reportedly helped by a petrol station worker in Michigan, United States when she entered the store and mouthed “help”.
The girl was waiting at a bus stop at around 7am on April 13 in Hamtramck when something was allegedly placed on her back and she was forced into a van at gunpoint by Donald Fields, according to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Another girl who attends the same school, witnessed the incident and called 911 immediately as Fields drove away with the girl, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors added that Fields, 48, allegedly s£xually assaulted the girl inside the van before stopping at a petrol station and walking inside the store with the girl.
Hamtramck Police Department had started a search for the teenager and had been notified by fellow students who were able to track her location that she was at the station.
Abdulrahman Abohatem was working behind the counter that morning when Fields and the girl entered, with Fields asking the minor to buy cigarettes for him, police said.
Abohatem told local media: “When he ask her to pay for the cigarettes, I stop and go there’s something wrong. And she mouthed to me, like with no sound, ‘help’.”
The shop worker then came out behind the protective glass and brought the girl to safety, according to the Mail.
He added: “I go out, I kick him out, I ask the girl go behind me.
“I feel good when you save somebody. Sixteen years old – she is a child.”
After being informed by pupils of the girl’s whereabouts, responding officers rushed to the location.
Police bodycam footage shows the moment officers arrived and arrested Fields as he was walking out of the store alone.
Fields asked: “For what?” as he was being detained.
The police force have released further chilling footage that captures the alleged moment the teenager was snatched from the bus stop.
Fields was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal s£xual conduct, kidnapping, one count of felonious assault, and three counts of felony firearm.
He was also charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm because he has a criminal history of s£xual assault charges, Hamtramck Mayor Adam Alharbi said.
He entered a not guilty plea during his arraignment and is being held without bond.
Fields will next appear in court on April 30.
Prosecutor’s praised the fast thinking from the young girl. Worthy said: “Our young survivor in this case was simply walking in broad daylight when she was viciously attacked and s£xually assaulted.
“Despite what she had just gone through, her quick thinking and mental toughness saved her life. We cannot reverse what happened to her, but we can work hard to bring justice to he.”
