A Marietta mother grabbed a gas pump to defend her two children when 30-year-old Jerahn Tucker
approached their car on July 23 between midnight and 1:30 a.m. at a Shell station on Delk Road.
The mother had walked two children into the convenience store while Tucker, shirtless and barefoot, was also inside. After the family left, the mother began pumping gas.
Tucker was next seen near the woman’s car, looking through the windows.
One child appeared to jump out and run away.
The mother put the child back in the vehicle as Tucker continued circling the car and looking inside.
Moments later, the child jumped out again. At one point, the mother raised the gas pump in what appeared to be an attempt to fend Tucker off.
The video shows the mother stepping between Tucker and her child, grabbing a gas pump and using it to push him away.
Her fast action gave her child enough time to get back inside the vehicle safely.
Several men then walked over. The gas station manager told Atlanta News First they were customers who had been inside the store.
Bystanders dropped their belongings and joined the mother in defending her kids before officers arrived.
A gas station employee said he noticed the disturbance outside. “I saw a commotion outside like someone was running after a small kid. Then eventually I saw the police,” said Ali Joof, a gas station employee.
Joof said Tucker is a regular customer. “He’s a regular customer here though. He comes here almost every day,” Joof said.
Tucker eventually drove off, and police later tracked him down and arrested him.
Authorities found him shortly afterward, along with a THC vape inside his vehicle.
Tucker was arrested and faces charges of attempted kidnapping, simple assault and possession of a THC vape.
He is being held in the Cobb County Jail.
The woman told police that Tucker had a gun, according to a warrant obtained by Fox 5 Atlanta.
The arrest warrant states Tucker at one point grabbed a child who was in the back seat.
Marietta Police Public Information Officer Charles McPhilamy praised the mother’s composure.
“The actions of the mother and everyone on the scene, their ability to remain calm under pressure and push him away, get him away from the children, get a hold of us so that we can get to the area allowed us to hold this individual accountable,” said Public Information Officer Charles McPhilamy, Marietta Police Department.
When asked about the motive behind the attack, McPhilamy said authorities did not have answers.
“The million-dollar question everyone watching is going to ask: Why did this happen? Why did this occur? And we don’t know those answers,” McPhilamy said.
The gas station manager said he’s kicked Tucker off the property multiple times.
In the viral moment captured on surveillance video, the mother was pumping gas with her two young children in the back seat when Tucker approached the vehicle. He looked inside, noticed a child, and began circling the car while attempting to access the children. When a child exited the car and ran, Tucker pursued him around the vehicle and at one point opened the back door where the second child was sitting. The mother immediately positioned herself between Tucker and her child, grabbed the gas pump hose, and used it to push him away, creating enough time and space for her children to get back safely inside the car.
The suspect, Jerahn Tucker, is now in jail on three charges, including attempted kidnapping.