PENSACOLA, Fla. (WSVN) — Surveillance cameras managed to capture the moment a man attempted to kidnap a young girl while she was waiting for her school bus.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office released surveillance video of the incident, which took place Tuesday morning in Pensacola.
The video shows the 11-year-old girl sitting on the grass when a white SUV pulls up. A man is seen getting out of the vehicle and running towards the girl who then tries to get away.
The man is then seen grabbing the girl and trying to drag her back to the car, but she is able to break free and run away as the man flees.
Deputies said the man seen in the surveillance video was 30-year-old Jared Paul Stanga.
Investigators say Stanga was armed with a knife.
In a press conference Tuesday night, Sheriff Chip W. Simmons said Stanga has an “extensive” criminal history, including sexual offenses with a child.
Investigators said two weeks before the incident, the girl reported to her principal that a man in a white vehicle had pulled up to her bus stop and talked to her. It remains unclear if Stanga was the same man, Fox 13 reports.
Stanga has been charged with attempted kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated assault and battery.
Deputies said the girl is safe and with family.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.