Retail Balls Award: Albertson's Employees Rescue Child From Kidnapping and Tackle Abductor

From Hiedi: This happened not to far from where I work- Another news station reported the boy was taken to a local ER to be checked out and luckily is only shaken up and sustained soft tissue injuries.  The store manager is glad his employees did the right thing.

--Hiedi

Via KomoNews:

BURIEN, Wash. - A stringy-haired man who tried to abduct an 11-year-old boy in the rest room of a Burien supermarket Saturday was tackled by employees and held until police arrived to arrest him, says King County Sheriff Steve Strachan.

The drama unfolded Saturday at about noon when the boy and his parents were shopping at the Albertson's store at SW 128th Street and 1st Avenue South in Burien.

The boy went to use the store's rest room, and shortly afterward a man with long, stringy black hair entered the rest room, grabbed the boy by the throat and threatened to kill him, Strachan said.

There was a struggle, and some nearby employees who heard the commotion went to see what was going on.

As they approached the rest room, they saw the boys' fingers stuck in the door. He was struggling to pull himself out of the bathroom as the suspect held the door shut tight on the boy's fingers.

The employees then banded together and pushed the door open to let the boy free.

The boy ran out to find his parents, and the suspect also bolted from the rest room toward the front of the store to run outside and get away.

At that point, five or six male and female employees then tackled and "hog-piled" onto the suspect, Strachan said, and stopped him. The suspect was partly clothed but his pants were down.

The employees remain piled on top of the suspect until deputies arrived and took him into custody.

Strachan described him as a white male in his 30s, about 5-feet-7-inches in height, 150 pounds, with long, stringy hair. The sheriff said he had no weapons but some used and dirty syringes fell out of his pockets when the employees tackled him. He also had possible illegal drugs.

It's not clear if the suspect lives in the area. He now faces possible charges of felony assault and attempted abduction. Strachan said.

The 11-year-old boy was shaken up and sustained minor injuries to his fingers in the assault.

One of the store employees was also bitten by the suspect, but the bite did not break the skin, Strachan said.

He said the family always does its grocery shopping at this Albertson's store and has never had any problems there before.

Strachan highly commended the store employees who took the initiative to rescue the boy, tackle the suspect and hold him until law enforcement officials arrived at the scene.

via www.komonews.com

 

 

Comments

[The Last Archimedean]

Great job by the employees. Thank Zeus the kid is safe.

I hope the bastard who tried to kidnap the kid gets a LONG prison sentence.

[Chicajojobe]

Part left out of headline: "Gets fired as reward."

[trekkiebabe]

Thank God for the employees who thought fast and weren't afraid to risk getting fired! I hope the store stands behind all of them.

[Nick]

"The suspect was partly clothed but his pants were down."

Oh god eww

I hope he goes away for a loooong time.

[Jami]

When people like that go to jail, the word "PEDOPHILE" should be tattooed on their face in places it can't be hidden by hair.

Then let general population take care of the rest.

I don't think in this case the employees will get fired - there's too many of them involved and too much support behind them. That store would have tons of picketers if they dared so much as look at them the wrong way.

[Bitch Boy]

@Jami: The tattoo will not be necessary. Inmates have a way of finding out what caused someone to be in prison. He'll be lucky to survive the general population...

[The Last Archimedean]

I hope the bastard gets what's coming to him.

[snoopster]

Holy Shit, that is my biggest fear. I have to show this to my husband who thinks our 10 year old is old enough to use public restrooms by himself...you just never know. What a sick fuck. I hope the cops did the same to HIS fingers...and other "parts".

[m.]

@snoopster, even if your husband doesn't agree that your son should be accompanied to the restroom, he can't stop you from doing what you know is best for your son. Go with your son and wait outside the restroom door. Screw what your husband or anyone else has to say about it.

[perky]

I'm truly surprised that the employees were not fired for tackling the would be abductor. A little faith in humanity has been restored.

[Book Baby]

I stood outside the men's room until my boys were teenagers, MUCH to their embarrassment. I wasn't taking ANY chances with my kids.

[Skittles]

Great job to these employees it restores my faith a little in humanity that the story wasn't imediately followed with and the employees have all been fired.

@snoopster
While I feel for anyone who has gone through a situation like the one above or had their child kidnapped like that, the fact remains that it is about half as likely as your kid being struck by lightning. I know that it feels really really close to home when you see it on tv or in the news but it is incredibly uncommon. Before someone quotes the stats on kidnapping please look up what those stats mean. You will find that overwhelmingly most kidnapings are custody related and committed by a family memeber or enraged spouse not by a stranger.

[perky]

@Skittles In Florida, being struck by lighting isn't too uncommon. LOL. I've twice had close calls with lighting.

[Mcarp555]

Well I guess this proves that Wal-Mart cares more for shoppers than Albertsons, since employees would NEVER be allowed to gang-tackle a customer!

[BookAce]

Oh wow, how terrifying that must have been for the poor kid and his family! Thank goodness it wasn't any worse. Those employees are heroes. I don't think they're in any danger of losing their jobs; if the store actually fired them after they saved a kid and got a dangerous creeper put behind bars, it would face the wrath of every decent human being in the area.

[NC Tony]

I'm also happy to hear that the employees are being praised and not fired for doing the right thing. I can tell you one thing though, if that was MY kid, I would have joined in the dog pile and beat the living shit out of that guy. He's gonna be REAL popular in prison.

[The Last Archimedean]

If that were my kid he wouldn't have to worry about prison. Right now his family would be planning his funeral.

[Skittles]

@Perky is that why you chose the moniker? You were all charged up?

[NC Tony]

@ TLA: No, someone like this you don't kill. At least not quickly. Let him live, after castrating him with a rusty spoon, and causing some permanent physical damage that causes him to spend the rest of his life in excruciating physical pain.

[sally ring]

I really hope the rescuer was not fired. How can I find out?