An Ohio man attempted to kidnap a 15-year-old girl while she was waiting for the bus to take her to school, authorities say.
Dominic Anthony Sacco, 27, is being held on abduction charges, according to a press release from the Strongsville Police Department. The harrowing incident occurred on Friday before the sun had even risen.
A 15-year-old girl was standing by the side of Fair Road in Strongsville shortly before 6:40 a.m., waiting for the bus to take her to school, according to local police. Later, “she was approached and grabbed by an adult male subject.”
The girl “pulled away from the man” and ran back into her house, police said. Officers soon arrived and began their investigation. Police said they located a man about a quarter mile from where the girl claimed she was grabbed.
The man, later revealed to be Sacco, was “positively identified as the subject that grabbed the juvenile” and arrested, according to the department.
The attempted abduction has “deeply concerned” Strongsville City Schools Superintendent Cameron Ryba.
“A Strongsville High School student experienced a serious safety situation when a 27-year-old man approached and grabbed her,” Ryba said, according to a copy of the statement obtained by Cleveland-based CBS affiliate WOIO. “Thanks to her courage and the swift response of the Strongsville Police Department, the man was identified and arrested.”
The statement continues:
As both a Superintendent and a father, I am deeply concerned by this incident. I am extremely grateful for the student’s strength in protecting herself and for the immediate actions of the Strongsville Police Department to ensure her safety and to quickly arrest this individual.
As a community, we will continue working together to ensure this remains an isolated incident. Please take a moment to talk with your children, not to create fear, but to help them build awareness and confidence about what to do if they ever feel unsafe.
Another student at the unidentified girl’s school discussed the incident with local ABC affiliate WEWS.
“Is some grown man going to come after me and grab my backpack and pull me? “It’s scary,” the girl told the television station. “If I am going on a bike ride, if I’m going on a walk, is the same thing going to happen to me?”
Strongsville is located in the Cleveland metropolitan area, approximately 20 miles southwest of the city.
