A 16-year-old girl was abducted at gunpoint while waiting for her school bus in a suburb of Detroit, but she saved herself with the help of a quick-thinking gas station clerk.
The unidentified suspect capped off the kidnapping by taking the girl to a Sunoco gas station in Detroit about 30 minutes after he snatched her from the curb, at around 7 a.m. on April 13.
He ordered the teen to buy him cigarettes.
She was clearly scared, and the scene didn't add up for the clerk, Abdulrahman Abohatem.
And then she mouthed one word.
Help.
“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,'” Abohatem told WXYZ-TV.
The courageous clerk didn't wait for them to leave and dial 911. He didn't hide and hope for help, but took action.
“I go out, I kick him out, I ask the girl 'go behind me,'” Abohatem recalled.
It turned out that police were already nearby because someone had seen the kidnapping, and dialed 911. "I'm walking to my bus stop, and I just see somebody snatching this girl," a caller told police.
According to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, that caller was another Frontier International Academy student. She told investigators she watched as a man walked up to the victim, placed something at her back, and forced her into the back of his van.
Prosecutors said the suspect then sexually assaulted the victim inside the van, before stopping at the gas station.
Michigan gas station clerk saves 16-year-old girl abducted by stranger after she mouthed 'help' https://t.co/QIuEOlCMcn pic.twitter.com/wSqx57H5RP
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Acting on info from the 911 call, police went to the school, where they found students who were able to track the victim's cell phone.
Officers arrived at the gas station just as Abohatem shoved him out the door.
"I see the police outside. I point to him -- 'That's the guy,'" Abohatem recounted.
Police arrested the suspect, 48-year-old Donald James Joseph Arthur Fields of Hamtramck, confiscated a handgun, and impounded the van.
Fields was arraigned in 31st District Court on Thursday on charges of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, kidnapping, felonious assault, felony firearm, and felon in possession of a firearm.
He was ordered held without bond, and remanded to jail.
Officials said the kidnapping was random, and the suspect and teen didn't know each other.
“Our young survivor in this case was simply walking in broad daylight when she was viciously attacked and sexually assaulted. Despite what she had just gone through, her quick thinking and mental toughness saved her life. We cannot reverse what happened to her, but we can work hard to bring justice to her, “ said Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
Hamtramck Mayor Adam Alharbi said in a press conference that the suspect "had a history of rape charges, and we will make sure that he gets what he deserves."
Hamtramck Police Chief Hussein Farhat said he's proud of the teen who reported the kidnapping, and how everyone worked together to rescue the girl.
"The student is my hero," Farhat told WWJ's Charlie Langton. "Our officers, you could tell the dedication in their faces. What they did in front of me for the past three days has been extraordinary."
Fields will be back in court for a Probable Cause Conference scheduled for April 30.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted as charged.
Suspect arraigned on sexual assault and kidnapping charges
Suspect arraigned on sexual assault and kidnapping charges
