Chilling video shows the moment a quick-thinking 11-year-old girl escapes an abduction attempt at a Florida bus stop
- A chilling video shows the moment a young girl escaped an attempted kidnap in Florida this week.
- Alyssa Bonal was at a bus stop when a man armed with a knife tried to drag her into his SUV.
- Police later identified the man because Bonal had smeared blue slime on him during the attack.
Surveillance footage captured the terrifying moment a man armed with a knife tried to abduct an 11-year-old girl at a bus stop in West Pensacola, Florida, on Tuesday.
The video shows the girl, who has since been identified as Alyssa Bonal, sitting on a patch of grass alone waiting for the bus to arrive. Moments later, a white SUV pulls up and a man jumps out and runs toward her with a knife.
Panicked, Bonal picks up her bag and tries to run in the opposite direction, but the man manages to grab her by the arm and starts pulling her toward the car.
Bonal starts to kick and punch the man until he falls to the ground and releases his grasp. She then grabs her bag and sprints off as the man bolts back to the car.
Watch the terrifying moment below:
A 30-year-old suspect identified as Jared Paul Stanga was arrested later that day after an extensive search, Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons told reporters on Tuesday.
Simmons said authorities were able to catch Stanga because Bonal had smeared blue slime she had been playing with on his arms during the attack.
"I was able to get the slime onto his upper arm and a little bit on his lower arm," Bonal told NBC's "Today" show, according to The Guardian. "I knew that might be better evidence if the cops do find him." Bonal said she had learned about collecting evidence from her favorite TV show, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
Simmons said Bonal also told authorities that the same man had approached her at the same bus stop two weeks earlier. According to Bonal, he had spoken Spanish to her and made her feel uncomfortable.
After reporting the incident to her teachers and parents, her mother started bringing her to the bus stop. Tuesday was the first time in two weeks her mother hadn't accompanied her daughter.
"Her first words were, 'Somebody tried to kidnap me. He grabbed me by my throat, and he had a knife,'" Bonal's mother, Amber, told NBC, according to The Guardian. "She said, 'Mom, I had to leave some sort of evidence behind, like on Law & Order: SVU.' We've watched probably every episode on Hulu. She's a smart cookie. She thinks on her toes."
Amber said her daughter is doing well and does not fully comprehend what might have happened if she hadn't managed to escape.
"If she would have been taken, I could have lost her forever," Amber said, according to The Guardian.
Stanga has been charged with the attempted kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated assault with a weapon, and simple battery, according to Simmons. He has a criminal history, including sexual offenses with a child, and remains in jail on a $1.5 million bond, according to police.
"I cannot help to think that this could have ended very differently," Simmons said at a news conference this week, according to The Washington Post. "Had this 11-year-old victim not thought to fight and to fight and to just never give up, then this could have ended terribly."
Mariska Hargitay, one of the stars of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, praised the young girl in an Instagram post on Thursday.
"You are one BRAVE, Strong and Smart young woman," Hargitay wrote. "I think the SVU squad might have to add slime to their crimefighting gear!"