Cops: 7-Year-Old Girl Escapes Kidnapper's Vehicle

San Antonio man charged with grabbing girl, throwing her in his SUV
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 15, 2019 1:10 PM CDT
Cops: 7-Year-Old Girl Escapes Kidnapper's Vehicle
The SAPD provided this photo of Jack Steele.   (San Antonio Police Department)

A 7-year-old girl was taking her dog out around 8:15pm on Aug. 8 outside her San Antonio apartment when a red SUV reversed toward her and stopped and a man got out, grabbed her, and threw her inside. As he waited for the gate to open so he could exit the complex, however, the girl saw that the back doors were unlocked—and she leapt out, yelling for help as she did so, KSAT reports. A resident heard her and got to her, and saw the SUV speeding off. The other resident told the girl's parents what had happened and they called police, WOAI reports. On Wednesday afternoon, police arrested the man they say tried to kidnap the girl.

The San Antonio Police Department said they got tips including the home address of suspect Jack Steele, 42. Police say he had been seen loitering in the apartment complex, in which he does not live, for an hour before the incident, per CBS Austin. According to the girl's father, Steele was seen on surveillance video "stalking" kids at their apartment complex's pool before the incident; Steele admitted to police he had been at the complex and parked near the pool, but denied taking the girl. He said he wanted to go for a drive and check out a new complex. He faces a felony third-degree kidnapping charge. "That brave young girl," said Sgt. Michelle Ramos of SAPD. "I couldn't imagine what she was going through." (Elsewhere, an 11-year-old boy let an intruder "have it" with a machete.)

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