DANIA BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man who attempted to lure a schoolgirl into his van while she walked home from school faced a judge, Thursday, and is being held on a pricey bond.
The South Florida schoolgirl got the scare of her life after, she said, the man, identified as 57-year-old James Green, attempted to lure her into his vehicle while she was walking home from school, Wednesday afternoon.
Green is now under arrest thanks to the girl’s brother and some quick-thinking neighbors.
Green, who was already on parole for a DUI arrest, told a judge Thursday that he’s been trying to get clean of alcohol and drugs.
“I was clean 9 months and a I messed up,” he said.
But the judge said the attempted abduction charges make Green a danger, and revoked his bond, which ahd been $50,000.
“I understand that… relapse is part of recovery, but your alleged to have gone to a very bad place here,” Judge Michael Davis said.
Speaking to 7News, Wednesday night, 9-year-old Angel said the subject was behind the wheel of a white van when he approached her along the 200 block of Southwest 14th Street, in Dania Beach. “He said, ‘Do you know my friend? Come in the van and help me look for him,’” she said.
But the girl refused to do as she was told. “Then I got scared, so I started to run, and then he told me not to run, but I ran anyway,” she said.
Her mother, Rita Noel, said her normally happy, outgoing daughter now doesn’t want to go back to school. “I can say, thank you, because she’s still here, because of the way that she is, and I can already see the change,” Noel said as she fought back tears.
Angel also had help from a neighbor who noticed what he deemed to be shady activity and stepped in. “She was crying, he stopped that guy, told him, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’” said the neighbor’s mother.
The neighbor’s mother said her son stalled the van driver while 911 was called. The Broward Sheriff’s Office showed up moments later, at around 2:20 p.m.
Noel was all the way in South Miami at work when she got the call from detectives, so she sent her son Jordan to the scene. “I called my son and said, ‘Get out of the house and go see what happened,’” she said.
But the girl refused to do as she was told. “Then I got scared, so I started to run, and then he told me not to run, but I ran anyway,” she said.
Her mother, Rita Noel, said her normally happy, outgoing daughter now doesn’t want to go back to school. “I can say, thank you, because she’s still here, because of the way that she is, and I can already see the change,” Noel said as she fought back tears.
Angel also had help from a neighbor who noticed what he deemed to be shady activity and stepped in. “She was crying, he stopped that guy, told him, ‘Hey, what are you doing?'” said the neighbor’s mother.
The neighbor’s mother said her son stalled the van driver while 911 was called. The Broward Sheriff’s Office showed up moments later, at around 2:20 p.m.
Noel was all the way in South Miami at work when she got the call from detectives, so she sent her son Jordan to the scene. “I called my son and said, ‘Get out of the house and go see what happened,'” she said.
Jordan sprinted from the family home to be with his sister, sharing his relief in a video he posted. “Someone just tried to kidnap Angel,” Jordan is heard saying in the clip. “She’s 9 years old, 9 years old.”
Jordan provided 7News with a picture of the subject’s van, which was later towed from the scene. The driver was then placed under arrest. “Can you imagine if he’s done this before, or if this is the first time he’s trying?” said Noel.
“The cops opened the door and took him out, and he was on the floor,” said Angel.
Noel’s family said the suspect had been drinking because deputies found bottles of alcohol inside the van. He was booked into the Broward County Jail.
No one answered the door of the Green’s Pembroke Pines home, where he lives with his mother, but at least one mom in the neighborhood said she’s not surprised.
“I feel terrible saying this, but my kids always were never allowed to play by themselves outside,” she said.
When asked if that was because of Green, she said, “I felt uncomfortable, yeah.”
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