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A quick-thinking 10-year-old boy escaped a woman who followed him home from school on Friday by popping into a local store and asking the cashier to pose as his mother.
Surveillance footage from the alleged kidnapping attempt shows a woman walking beside him just before he overtakes Dani Bee Funky, his favorite convenience store in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
The stranger lay in wait outside as the fourth grader walked to the counter and whispered something to the cashier, 17-year-old Hannah Daniels.
Sammy’s father, Sam Green, told him WPVI that his son asked Daniels to “pretend to be my mother” because “this lady is following me.”
Sammy Green, 10, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, thwarted a possible kidnapping Friday thanks to his quick thinking
The fourth grader was walking home from school when a stranger started following him. The woman offered to buy him food and claimed to know his family
Surveillance footage shows the woman walking next to him before he ducks into Dani Bee Funky, his favorite convenience store
The teenage cashier acted quickly, placing herself between Sammy and the woman, who was still holding the door open.
Daniels then calmly walked over, pulled the door shut and locked it. Then the woman finally left.
Green was understandably shocked after seeing the terrifying images.
“When we watched that video, I cried every time I saw it,” the father said.
The woman held the door open as he entered the store, but she did not follow him inside
The stranger was left lurking outside as he walked to the counter and whispered something to the cashier, 17-year-old Hannah Daniels
said Sammy CBSPhiladelphia he was walking home from school in the High Street when the woman started to follow him and offered to buy him food.
“She was like, ‘I’m going to Wawa, are you going there? What do you get from Wawa? Where’s your family?'” he recalled.
Sammy had never seen the woman before that day, but she claimed she knew his family and he would go with her.
When he saw the corner store near his home, he acted quickly and walked in.
Sammy asked Daniels to pose as his mother because he was being followed
The teenage cashier acted quickly, placing herself between Sammy and the woman, who was still holding the door open
Daniels then calmly walked to the door, pulled it shut and locked it, prompting the stranger to finally walk away.
Speaking to CBS Philadelphia, Daniels recalled how she told Sammy to wait in the back while she interacted with the woman, but he refused to leave her side.
Sammy said he was “still shaking” when he was in the store.
“To see my child seek help because he feared for his life, it cuts you deep,” Green told the local news station.
The elementary school student credits his father for teaching him to be wary of strangers and to always be aware of his surroundings.
Sammy’s father, Sam Green, told WPVI he “cried very often” when he watched the security video
Sammy credits his father for teaching him to be wary of strangers and to always be aware of his surroundings
It was reported that Pottstown police found the woman over the weekend and she has been referred for mental health help
“Think about each scenario and make sure kids know it and practice it too,” Green said. “Practice your situations and scenarios just like fire drills.”
Sammy and Daniels are both credited for thwarting what could have been a possible kidnapping that day.
CBS reported that Pottstown police found the woman over the weekend and she was referred for mental health help.
Sammy now has a family friend who drives him home from school after the scare.