A young Louisville girl is safe at home thanks to vigilant neighbors.
The 6-year-old girl was riding her bike on July 3 in the 4700 block of Haney Way in Valley Station when a car driven by Robby Wildt, 40, pulled up next to her.
“It happened quick. He came around the corner, parked his car, (and) got out within 15 seconds," neighbor Prentiss Weatherford told WAVE. Weatherford was sitting on his front porch when he said he saw Wildt grab the girl.
"He just grabbed her by the collar, threw her bike, threw her in the passenger’s seat, made his way on down the road," Weatherford continued.
He was one of several neighbors who saw the kidnapping take place and called 911. It took less than 10 minutes for Louisville Metro Police officers to find Wildt based on witnesses descriptions of his car and license plate.
Body camera footage released by LMPD shows the moment Officer Jason Burba pulls up to Wildt's car and open the passenger door to find the little girl inside. She's crying and tells Burba that she wants her daddy when he picks her up.
“It was overwhelming,” LMPD Sargent Joseff Keeling told the TV station. “Especially when you hear her crying and asking for her family because she’s so scared. It was definitely a gut check.”
Wildt didn't know the little girl he's accused for abducting. He told police that he grabbed her after seeing her playing in the neighborhood. He tried to return the girl after she started crying because he realized that he "may hurt her" and “he felt bad for doing what he had done," according to a police statement.
Wildt was arrested and charged with kidnapping of a minor. He's being held at Louisville Metro Corrections on a $1 million bond.