MADISON COUNTY, AL (WAFF) -
As a 10-year-old girl and her 2-year-old brother returned from their trip to the neighborhood store in south Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon, a man got out of a white car, and followed them.
The surveillance video showed him putting his hand over the girl's mouth and trying to drag her away.
She kicked with all her might and soon fell to the ground.
"It's ok to resist an adult," said Dr. Harry Hobbs of the Huntsville Police Department.
That is exactly what that little girl did.
Dr. Hobbs said she did the right thing. She made noise and put up a fight, something all children need to learn how to do when they feel they are being physically placed in an unsafe situation.
"If you're being abducted or you feel that someone is trying to do something unsafe to you, we would encourage the children to scream and to holler, to fight back, to yell out, this is not my father, this is not my mother, this is not my brother," said Dr. Hobbs.
Philadelphia police caught the girl's attacker Thursday.
Dr. Hobbs believed this incident serves as a good educational tool for parents right here in the Valley because currently, according to bannerkids.org, there are 31 children missing from Alabama.
"Go over some what-if scenarios, that if this happens, you do this. And also, never let your children go anywhere unless you know about it, and you are with them or you have another adult that you can trust and they can trust is chaperoning and supervising them," said Dr. Hobbs.
The Philadelphia Police Department posted the video on Youtube and Facebook, hoping someone will be able to identify the man.
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