AMES, Iowa (AP) - Police are crediting a teenage girl with saving her younger brother from being kidnapped from the family’s home in Ames.
Officers responded to a report of an attempted child abduction at the home just before 1 a.m. Friday, The Des Moines Register reported (https://dmreg.co/1AqA99O). Family members told police that a male suspect came into the home while the family was sleeping and pulled the child out of a basement window. Police said the suspect also hit the boy in the face.
The boy’s older sister heard the commotion, chased the suspect into the front yard and was able to get her brother away from the suspect, police said.
Police found a 17-year-old boy who lives in the neighborhood about a block from the family’s home and took him into custody. He was taken to hospital for a mental health evaluation.
The teen was not a friend or close acquaintance of the victim or his family, police Commander Jason Tuttle said. Investigators are still trying to determine the teen’s intentions in the abduction attempt.
“He didn’t give us much of a statement,” Tuttle said. “He is really the only person who knows what he was going to do.”
Police said they expect to charge the teen as an adult with first-degree burglary as soon as he’s released from the hospital. Other charges also are likely against the teen, Tuttle said.
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, https://www.desmoinesregister.com
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