A teenage girl was nearly abducted at gunpoint near a South Los Angeles elementary school on Tuesday.
A man attempted to kidnap a 15-year-old girl. She performed an incredible act by fighting off her attacker and managed to escape.
The girl was standing outside Figueroa Street Elementary School around 3:30 p.m. when the man suddenly approached her and put his hand around her neck.
She was only able to free herself after hitting the man with her mobile phone and then running away across the road.
A teenage girl was nearly kidnapped at gunpoint in broad daylight near a South LA school
The girl was outside Figueroa Street Elementary School around 3:30 p.m. when the man suddenly approached her and put his hand around her neck.
The teenage girl and her mother want to remain anonymous after the attack
The attempted kidnapping was captured on surveillance cameras at a nearby store.
The terrifying footage was shared with the LAPD, which released it in hopes of capturing the armed suspect.
“I hope the police will pay more attention to the community,” local shop owner Foxy Chavez said ABC7.
Neither the teen nor her mother wanted to be named, but they are both grateful that she was able to defend herself and fend off her attacker.
Police are treating the incident as an attempted kidnapping.
Local shopkeeper Foxy Chavez, pictured, said police need to pay more attention to the community
The teenager can be seen sprinting across the road to get away from her attacker
The teen said she was able to flee after hitting her attacker with her cell phone
Such opportunistic crimes are becoming more common because of lax bail reform policies under the vigilant U.S. District Attorney George Gascón.
DA Gascón is a progressive prosecutor who openly advocates for the criminal justice system to focus more on intervention and rehabilitation, calling the tough policies against crime racist and a failure.
Gascón is running for re-election in November alongside opponent Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who is trying to capitalize on anger over crime and homelessness.
In his campaign ads, attorney Hochman has promised to change the course of the DA’s office, saying, “It’s time we have a prosecutor who stands up for victims, not criminals.”
Gascón was elected in 2020 on a program of criminal justice reform in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. He faced an impeachment attempt within his first 100 days and a second attempt later, both of which failed to make it onto the ballot.
The opportunistic crime seems to be all the more common under the woke policies of DA George Gascón, pictured, who is up for re-election in November and may be voted out of office.
During his first term, Gascón immediately implemented his campaign goals: he did not seek the death penalty, did not prosecute minors as adults, stopped paying bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, and stopped seeking sentencing enhancements that would have resulted in harsher sentences for certain types of crimes, repeat offenses, or gang membership.
He was forced to roll back some of his biggest reforms early in his term, including initially eliminating more than 100 enhancements and elevating a hate crime from a misdemeanor to a felony.
The move angered victims’ advocates, and Gascón reversed his stance, reinstating the rules for cases involving children, the elderly, and people targeted because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or disability.
His opponents have vowed to roll back many or most of his most progressive policies, such as his previous orders to abolish the application for enhanced sentences.