The residents of a Houston, Texas, neighborhood are being hailed as heroes for jumping into action when they heard a small boy yelling about an alleged kidnapping.
The 11-year-old boy told KTRK-TV that he was doing laundry at his apartment complex on Tuesday afternoon when he was approached by a man who said he needed to borrow his laundry card.
The boy said that he went to ask his mother for permission.
“She said yes because she was trying to help someone, you know?” said the sister of the victim.
The man then allegedly pushed the boy into his car and threatened him with a gun.
“He said ‘obey me, or else you will get killed,'” the boy recalled.
The boy suffered scratches on his face and arm during the altercation.
“He grabbed my hands and tried to grab my phone and put it somewhere else but he forgot my hands were free,” the boy continued. “So I tried to open the lock, I opened it, and I opened the door… I went outside and called for help.”
That’s when the boy screamed for help and neighbors came running.
A video recording shows them grabbing the man and holding him down until the police arrived. At one point, a woman slaps him.
Police identified the man as 30-year-old Miguel Angel Cordero Ramirez.
The victim’s sister said that Ramirez claimed that he did nothing wrong, and he was trying to get away from the bystanders. The family said they didn’t recognize Ramirez.
Ramirez was charged with aggravated kidnapping and was placed into jail custody on a $250,000 bond.
The boy said that he wanted to be a police officer and that the incident has made him more eager to follow his dream.
“I want him to stay in jail forever and never do this again so he can learn his lesson,” the boy added.
Here’s a local news report about the harrowing incident:
Boy escapes sexual assault suspect with neighbors’ help
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