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Girl, 15, escapes kidnapper's car

Police say he drove around with her after grabbing her off the street. If caught, he faces kidnapping charges.

By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Published May 21, 2005

TAMPA - A 15-year-girl walking home from school was grabbed off the street by a man who drove her around threatening to rape her before the girl escaped his grasp and ran from the car.

About 3:10 p.m. the girl was walking with a group of classmates from Middleton High School on Curtis Street. When she got to 15th Street she continued on alone, said Tampa police Lt. Marc Hamlin.

A man driving a tan four-door sedan drove alongside her, throwing open his passenger door and blocking her path, Hamlin said. The man lunged out of the car and grabbed the girl and pulled her inside, holding her in the front passenger seat.

The man drove around, telling the girl he was going to have sex with her, Hamlin said.

The girl remained calm, and at Tampa Street and Columbus Avenue, the man released his grip on her arm, Hamlin said.

The girl jumped from the car and ran for help, he said. She called her mother, who left work to pick her up. The mother called police.

The kidnapper was described as a black man with light skin, in his mid 20s, with a muscular build, short hair and gold on the lower row of his teeth, Hamlin said. He was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt.

The faded tan or brown four-door sedan resembled a Cadillac, he said, with a tan cloth interior with tears and cuts on the headliner, passenger seat and passenger door, which was missing a handle. Hamlin did not know how the girl got out of the car and said she might have opened it by reaching through the window and opening it from the outside.

The driver's seat was missing a headrest.

Hamlin said it remained unclear how long the man drove around with the girl. Police got the call about 4:40 p.m., but that was after the girl's mother drove from North Tampa to be with her daughter.

If caught, the man faces kidnapping charges if not more, Hamlin said.

"She's not physically injured," he said. "She's obviously traumatized."

But the girl kept calm and was able to provide police with specific details and descriptions.

Anyone with information about the kidnapper or the incident, can call Tampa police at (813) 231-6130.

[Last modified May 21, 2005, 01:03:17]