A 30-year-old Florida man is behind bars after he failed to kidnap an 11-year-old girl. The young girl was sitting on the grass waiting for her school bus in West Pensacola when a white Dodge Journey stopped on the side of the road.
A man armed with a knife got out of the car and tried to grab the young girl. She managed to fight him off and run home, while the suspect got back in his vehicle and drove away. The girl suffered a few scratches and is dealing with mental trauma from the attempted abduction.
"She fought, and she never gave up," Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said during a press conference.
The girl told investigators that the suspect, identified as Jared Paul Stanga, had tried to talk to her two weeks ago and she reported the incident to her parents and her school's principal.
Surveillance footage captured the terrifying scene and helped lead investigators to Stanga, who was taken into custody about eight hours later. He was charged with the attempted kidnapping of a child, aggravated assault, and battery. He has a lengthy criminal history and is a registered sex offender.
The Escambia County Sheriff's Office shared the surveillance video showing the girl fight off Stanga on Facebook.
“Luckily, she fights,” Simmons said. “She struggles and then she went limp. And she’s kicking and she’s pushing and she’s punching and she’s able to get free.”