Small dog sinks teeth into stranger who grabbed his 11-year-old owner, Texas cops say
A Pasadena, Texas, family says their furry friend is the reason an 11-year-old girl got away from a would-be kidnapper safely, Patch reported. Now they’re hoping police can find the man and take him off the streets
Pasadena police say an 11-year-old girl was walking her dog, a beagle/terrier mix named Ray, down the street when a man in a dark gray SUV approached her and grabbed her, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“She spotted a man that was looking at her really weird,” the victim’s sister Bianca Hernandez said, according to KPRC and CNN.
“He grabbed her by the arm and said, ‘Come on,’” she said, according to KPRC. “We’re blessed that she’s OK.”
Police say the girl struggled with the stranger until the dog took matters into his own teeth - and bit the would-be kidnapper on the leg, Patch reported.
“The dog was like, ‘nuh uh.’ This isn’t any regular person greeting her or something, so yeah he went for him. A bite in the leg and that was the only way for her to free herself,” Hernandez said, according to CBS Dallas/Ft. Worth.
The girl was able to run home as the stranger tried to drive away. When the 11-year-old got back home, her uncle chased after the man “like an Olympic sprinter” a neighbor said, according to KPRC and CNN.
The girl was visiting the area when the attack occurred, and the family gave police photos and video that showed the would-be kidnapper, the Houston Chronicle reported. Police said they also have the license plate number of a gray SUV.
The suspect is still on the loose, and police are not confirming whether the man in the photos is the attacker, KTRK reported.
Ray may have been a saving grace to the girl’s family, but he’s not alone in the ranks of canine heroes. There are many reports through the years of dogs coming to the rescue when a person is in danger from a kidnapper.
In fact, a similar situation happened a year ago in Woodbridge, Va., ABC News reported. In that case, a 10-year-old girl was out walking when a strange man approached her and grabbed her arm, the network reported. The girl’s dog bit the man and he ran away.
In Chicago that same year, a woman was walking her dog when a man allegedly grabbed her and placed a white cloth to her mouth, the New York Post reported. Her dog attacked the man, allowing the woman to escape unharmed.