(Photo: Citrus County Sheriff’s Office via KHOU)
INVERNESS, Fla. (KHOU) — It was a terrifying moment for a mother and daughter who were shopping at a Dollar General store in Inverness, Florida Tuesday morning.
A man, later identified as Craig Bonello, grabbed the 13-year-old girl and tried to run out of the store with her in his arms. Before reaching the doors, the mother was able to catch up to him and grab her daughter. A “tug-of-war” broke out between the suspect and the mother, and shoppers could hear the two were heard screaming.
Bonello finally let go of the girl and ran out the front door of the Dollar General, just as off-duty Deputy Jonathan Behnen was getting out of his patrol car in the parking lot.
Citrus County Sheriff’s Office released surveillance video of the attempted kidnapping on Facebook.
The sheriff’s office says Behnen had been to court earlier in the morning and had stopped at the store to grab supplies when he saw Bonello running from the store.
The store manager, who is acquaintances with Dep. Behnen, yelled to him that the man running away had just tried to kidnap a child.
Behnen jumped into action, pulling his patrol car in front of Bonello’s vehicle as he tried to leave the parking lot. He then ordered the man out of the car with his weapon in hand. After initially not complying, the man was taken into custody without further incident.
“In my 10 years on the road I have never seen anything like this,” said Sgt. Craig Callahan from the scene. “He truly intended to abduct this child right in front of everyone in the store.”
The mother and her daughter, although both very rattled, are uninjured.
“Behnen is a bona fide hero today,” said Capt. Ricky Grant, who was also on scene. “If it weren’t for him, this guy would have gotten away.”
Read the full story at KHOU.com.