Watauga police arrest Fort Worth man in attempted child kidnapping

Police have arrested a 48-year-old Fort Worth man in the attempted abduction of an 11-year-old Watauga girl as she walked home from school last week.

James Earl Williams Sr. faces charges of attempted aggravated kidnapping and injury to a child with intent to cause bodily injury.

On April 13, a girl told police she was grabbed by a man in the 6100 block of Nelson Terrace. He tried to force her into his black Mercedes, police have said. The girl fought and screamed until he yelled at her to get out of the car. As the girl ran home, the man drove away.

The girl was about 100 yards from her home when she was grabbed, police said.

“He timed it where she was near his car when he grabbed her. He never said a word,” police Sgt. Jason Babcock said. “She broke her tooth and busted her lip when she hit her mouth as he tried to put her in the car.”

Williams was in the North Richland Hills jail Monday night with bail set at $750,000in the attempted kidnapping case and $500,000 in the injury to a child case. still the case

Babcock said the $1.25 million bail takes into account his criminal history and risk.

“The fact that there was a child that was hurt in this attempt, along with what would appear that he is becoming more aggressive in similar cases he is described in, plays a role,” Babcock said.

Williams was first arrested Thursday on unrelated warrants issued in another town. He was pulled over at the intersection of Whitehurst Drive and Indian Springs Road.

“We were working off a tip we received,” Babcock said.

He was arrested on Saturday in the abduction case.

Staff writers Monica S. Nagy and Dustin Dangli contributed to this report.

This story was originally published April 19, 2015 at 9:41 AM with the headline "Watauga police arrest Fort Worth man in attempted child kidnapping."