When a Florida man tried dragging a thirteen-year-old girl out of a convenience store with him, a brave and pretty awesome mom stepped in to save her child. Thankfully, nothing is able to beat the strength of a mother’s love. She managed to chase down her daughter’s captor and hang on for dear life until he gave up and fled the store.
The suspect was arrested shortly after he ran out of the Dollar General store in Hernando, Florida, CBS News reports. The mother and store owner were able to get the attention of off-duty Deputy John Behnen, who followed the suspect and placed him under arrest. “When I first saw him run out of the building, I have to be honest, I just thought it was shoplifting,” Behnen said at a press conference on Wednesday. “He fought a little bit, but when he realized I had the upper edge, he complied with everything thereafter.”
According to the Washington Post, the mother and daughter were both “very rattled,” but managed to escape the incident without any injuries.
This unhinged man has been identified by the authorities as 30-year-old Craig Bonello, who now faces charges of both kidnapping and child abuse. He is currently being held without bond and has a long list of previous arrests already in the book. His intentions for the attempted kidnapping remain unknown since he did not know the girl or her mother, and is not a registered sex offender. However, we can all guess that anyone’s motives in kidnapping a young girl are probably really, really terrible.
Citrus County Sheriff Jeffrey Dawsy encouraged parents to take this as a lesson to fight back if something similar ever happens to their children. “In that particular situation you don’t back away,” Dawsy said, according to CBS. “If your child is being snatched, you are going to do anything.” The moral of the story here? NEVER mess with mom.