A quick-thinking gas station clerk is being praised for helping rescue a teenage girl after she silently mouthed the word “help” while in obvious distress earlier this week.
The incident began shortly after 7am local time on Monday (April 13) near Edwin and Brombach in Detroit, where the teenager was waiting for her school bus when she was reportedly abducted.
Roughly 30 minutes later, police say the suspect — a stranger to the girl — brought her into a Sunoco gas station and picked up cigarettes, instructing the teen to pay.
Clerk Abdulrahman Abohatem was behind the counter at the time and said he immediately sensed something was wrong with the interaction.
He told WXYZ: “When he ask her to pay for the cigarettes, I stop and go there’s something wrong. And she mouthed talked to me, like with no sound, ‘help.'”
Acting on that moment, Abohatem left the area behind the protective glass, placed himself between the pair, and moved the teen to safety as he confronted the man.
“I go out, I kick him out, I ask the girl go behind me,” the store clerk added.
Investigators say other students witnessed the abduction and helped authorities pinpoint the girl’s whereabouts by using her phone location.
With that information, officers arrived at the gas station and arrested the alleged kidnapper before he could leave the area.
Video from the store reportedly shows Abohatem stepping between the suspect and the teen, with the situation continuing outside as police reach the scene.
“I see the police outside. I point to him — ‘That’s the guy,'” Abohatem recalled.
Police have also indicated the suspect has a prior history involving rape charges.
Hamtramck Police Department Chief Hussein told press: “This is a random incident. This suspect could have driven anywhere, saw the opportunity and took advantage of it.”
In a statement to ABC News, the Hamtramck Police Department said: “The suspect is still in custody and charges are pending with the Wayne County Prosecutors Office.”
The teenager’s family told WXYZ she is back home and safe, and that they appreciate the support shown by people who helped during the search.
Frontier International Academy principal Mohammed Alsanai described how rapidly the location information came together, telling ABC News: “One of her friends opened the location through one of the social media apps. I said, ‘Oh, I could see her location right now.’
“As we show the police the location, informed the dispatch, and as she walked in and said she had the location, like the whole room froze and we all look at each other like, ‘Here we go.'”