A 16-year-old Michigan girl is safe after being kidnapped on her way to school, thanks to an attentive store clerk who recognized her cry for help..<\/p>\n
Police in Hamtramck said that the young victim was walking to the bus stop on the morning of Monday, April 13, when at around 7 a.m., a man she does not know pulled up alongside her. He brandished a gun and instructed the teen to get into his car, police said.<\/p>\n
Investigators said that several students witnessed the abduction and were able to help police track the Frontier International Academy student\u2019s location through social media and cell phone data.<\/p>\n
When the kidnapper stopped 30 minutes later to get gas in Detroit just five miles away, police said that he made the girl go with him into the convenience store. Once inside, the man told the girl to buy him a pack of cigarettes, police said.<\/p>\n
When the girl reached the counter, she mouthed the word \u201cHelp\u201d to clerk Abdulrahman Abohatem, who quickly realized something was amiss.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he ask her to pay for the cigarettes, I stop and go, \u2018There\u2019s something wrong,’\u201d Abohatem told WXYZ. \u201cAnd she mouthed talked to me, like with no sound, \u2018Help.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Abohatem said that he left the counter, and got between the girl and her captor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go out, I kick him out, I ask the girl go behind me,\u201d Abohatem told the station.<\/p>\n
As the kidnapper was being thrown out of the store, police cars rolled up \u2014 having tracked the teen girl to the service station, with help from her classmates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see the police outside. I point to him. I go, \u2018That\u2019s the guy,’\u201d Abohatem said.<\/p>\n
Hamtramck Mayor Adam Alharbi noted that the suspect\u2019s criminal background includes \u201ca history of rape charges, and we will make sure he gets what he deserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abohatem said he feels \u201cgood\u201d he was able to save the girl.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very concerning because we\u2019re talking about a child\u2019s life here,\u201d said Hamtramck Police Chief Hussein Farhat during a press conference Monday. \u201cIt\u2019s scary to [the victim\u2019s family]. It\u2019s scary to every parent who has children. So, we can only imagine what\u2019s going through their head right now. Just want to make sure they know we\u2019re there for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farhat said that the gun the man flashed at the teen victim has been recovered.<\/p>\n
The suspect\u2019s name was being withheld until his arraignment, which will likely happen on Wednesday, April 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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