The 11-year-old girl who thwarted an abduction bid this week credited “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” for some fast thinking that helped investigators locate a suspect.
It is precisely what occurred.
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said the girl was waiting for her school bus in Pensacola, Florida, on Tuesday morning when she was approached by a man.
Alyssa, left, discusses her near escape from an apparent kidnapping plot while waiting for her bus on NBC’s “Today Show.”
The girl tries to flee until the man grabs her, according to surveillance footage obtained by the sheriff’s office. After a struggle, she manages to free herself from the suspect’s grip, and they both fall to the ground. The girl can be seen fleeing, as the man rushes back to his car and pulls away.
According to Simmons, the girl was playing with blue slime at the time of the abduction attempt, and when 30-year-old Jared Paul Stanga was apprehended, he “had blue slime all over his own weapons.”
“I was able to get the slime onto his upper arm and a little bit on his lower arm,” Alyssa said.
According to the sheriff’s office, Stanga has been charged with the alleged abduction of a child under the age of 13, aggravated assault with a knife, and basic battery. He is being kept on a bail of $1.5 million. As CNN reached out to his lawyer on Wednesday, he declined to comment.
When asked how she felt after her close escape, Alyssa said she was “most proud of me” and that she thought “SVU” was a good show. “You’re brave, and you did a great job!” Detective Olivia Benson will most likely tell her.