A 10-year-old boy says a woman was following him home from school. He was able to get away from her by thinking quickly and going to a nearby store to ask the cashier to pretend to be his mother.
Action News says that Sammy Green, from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, was walking home from school when a woman started walking with him.
She gave the fourth-grader something to eat and then started to make him feel very bad. CBS News says that this is when Sammy knew he had to do something.
Sammy thought back to what the woman said to him:
She was like, ‘I’m going to Wawa, are you going there? What are you getting from Wawa? Where’s your family at?
Watch the frightening surveillance video below:
Surveillance cameras caught what may have been an attempt to kidnap the 10-year-old boy. The boy ran into Dani Bee Funky, his favorite store in the area, to get away from the woman.
Sammy’s dad, Sam Green, told Action News that his son went up to Hannah Daniels, a 17-year-old cashier, and asked her:
To ‘act like you’re my mom, this lady is following me’.
The cashier, who was only a teenager, then stood between Sammy and the woman, who was still hiding near the doorway. Hannah was brave and locked the door. This is when the person who was after Sammy left the scene.
When Sammy’s dad talked about the surveillance footage, he said:
When we were watching that video, I cried every time I saw it.
In an interview with CBS News, he talked about how the situation with his son makes him feel:
To see my child looking for help because he was afraid basically for his life, that cuts you deep.
Sam wants every parent to learn from this and teach their kids that strangers can be dangerous.
Think of every scenario and make sure that children know and also practice it. Practice your situations and scenarios just like fire drills,
he said.
CBS also says that the woman has been found by the Pottstown Police Department and is getting help for her mental health.
Dani Small, the owner of Dani Bee Funky, praised both the boy and her worker for being quick on their feet:
I am very proud of her. Hannah is a 17-year-old young lady. She did everything correctly,
she told Action News.
Since the scare, a friend of the family has walked Sammy home to make sure nothing like this happens again.
