Watauga police say a person of interest in Monday's child abduction attempt is in custody on charges from another agency.
Police said they have also impounded a vehicle of interest related to the case which began when 11-year-old Amber Hewitt said she was walking in the 6100 block of Nelson Terrace and a man tried to physically force her into his car.
The girl fought back, escaped and ran home.
"He hooked me with his arm and said, 'Get in the car,'" victim Amber Hewitt, 11, told NBC 5.
The attacker hit the girl's face on the car door as he forced her in, breaking a top, front tooth and cutting the inside of her lip.
“If her face would have hit the car any harder it would have knocked her out and she wouldn’t be standing here,” said Amber’s mother, Sylvia Chandler.
Amber kicked, screamed and escaped, she said, and her mother told NBC 5 she's proud of her daughter's quick thinking to struggle and break free.
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Watauga Police Release Photos of Vehicle of Interest in Child Abduction Attempt
“She’s a brave one. He probably thought he got an easy pickin'. Nope,” Chandler said, referring to her fifth grader.
Investigators said the man was driving a black four-door passenger car, which might be a Mercedes or a vehicle with a similar body style.
Both the vehicle and the description match that given to police in March about a man suspected of a similar incident approximately one mile from Monday’s abduction attempt, according to Sgt. Jason Babcock of the Watauga Police Department.
In that incident, the man did not exit the vehicle; instead he instructed a girl to get in.
“It was also another 11-year-old female,” Babcock said. “Anyone who has children, that’s the most horrific thing you can think of.”
Police have not released further information on the person of interest who was taken into custody, including the person's name or the charges they face.
Authorities ask anyone with information related to either abduction attempt to call detectives at 817-514-5783.
