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Courage in the face of danger! Join us as we recount incredible stories of individuals who thwarted their own kidnappings. From quick-thinking baristas to brave children, these tales of survival and quick action will leave you inspired. Which story of self-rescue impressed you the most?
Transcript
00:00She fought and she fought and she fought until finally she was able to break free.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're looking at instances of unsuccessful kidnapping attempts
00:11where the victims were able to free themselves or actively fought back against their attackers.
00:17Brittany says panic was setting in.
00:19My biggest fear was he was going to drive this car into a river.
00:23I'm going to drown here and nobody's going to know I'm in this truck.
00:26Espresso barista.
00:28Now this terrifying act was captured on surveillance video still circulating on
00:31social media even making national headlines.
00:33An ordinary barista shift suddenly turned into a nightmare for one woman in Auburn, Washington.
00:39While working the drive-thru window at a local espresso shop,
00:42a male customer maliciously grabbed the waitress and attempted to subdue her with a zip tie.
00:47The video shows a man try to lasso a barista with a looped zip tie.
00:51A nearby security camera recorded the entire horrifying moment.
00:55Fortunately the girl was able to shake off her assailant and slam the glass shut
01:00just before the suspect drove away.
01:02Both the captured footage and an identifiable arm tattoo allowed police to find and apprehend
01:08Matthew Darnell who was charged with attempted kidnapping.
01:12Court documents say Auburn police found a looped
01:14zip tie under the seat of his pickup truck when he was arrested.
01:18It's unsettling that the incident occurred in spite of the restaurant's hefty safety measures
01:23but the barista's quick reaction and a little luck
01:26helped keep this story from having a much more tragic ending.
01:30Woman on a Train
01:31It's an attempt so brazen it'll send shivers down your spine.
01:35In December 2019, Sunny Alloway was filmed in a New York City train
01:39trying to talk to an unidentified woman as she slept.
01:43Around 2.45 am a man dressed head to toe in red
01:46tries to get a woman's attention as she sits across from him hood over her head.
01:50Once the train comes to a stop at the station and the doors open,
01:53Alloway grabs the woman and carries her onto a platform bench.
01:57We're not quite sure what his plan was after that but thankfully it never materialized.
02:01The woman manages to escape and runs back into the train,
02:04alerting the man she was with who appeared to be asleep next to her.
02:08The victim was able to regain consciousness
02:10and quickly made her way back into the train before it left the station.
02:13Alloway reportedly received a dose of street justice
02:16before he was apprehended by the authorities for unlawful imprisonment.
02:20Sebastian the Argentine Teenager
02:23This grainy footage came from a CCTV camera in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
02:27The clip shows a boy, identified only as Sebastian,
02:31walking down a lonely street in the middle of the night.
02:33A car pulls up beside him and two men jump out and attempt to drag him into the vehicle.
02:38Sebastian wrestles with the two men and is able to free himself from their hold against all odds.
02:44The boy lets go of his backpack and runs away, foiling their abduction attempt.
02:48His would-be kidnappers get back into their car and also flee the scene.
02:53It is unclear if any arrests have been made in the case since it occurred in 2017.
02:58Florida Victim
02:59Early on a Monday morning in April 2022,
03:02a boy was walking to his school in Orlando, Florida when he was approached by Vin Nguyen.
03:07A surveillance camera outside a restaurant captured the moment when
03:10Nguyen tried luring him into his vehicle.
03:13You see the suspect approach the child
03:15and appears to put his hands on the victim before walking out of frame.
03:18He allegedly told the child that he was cute and offered to drop him off at school.
03:23Thankfully, the boy declined his offer and continued walking.
03:26Nguyen was arrested the following day after the footage was given to the authorities.
03:30It was later discovered that he had apparently attempted
03:33to do the same to another child the previous year.
03:36And according to court records, in 2019,
03:38Nguyen was arrested at a Colonial Drive sub shop for battery.
03:42Nguyen was brought up on charges of false imprisonment, luring of a child, and battery.
03:47California Daughter
03:49This terrifying incident happens so fast, if you blink, you probably miss it.
03:53On July 1, 2016, a mother walked into a cell phone store in Victorville,
03:57California with her two daughters.
04:00While she held her infant in her arms,
04:01her older daughter played by the candy machine right next to the entrance.
04:05The little girl began playing with a candy machine
04:08in a California cell phone store when the man appeared to snatch her.
04:12Then, in a flash, a hand reached through the door and snatched the girl out of the store.
04:17That hand belonged to 24-year-old Terri Ransom.
04:20Luckily, Ransom lost his grip on the child and she was able to escape right into her mother's arms.
04:25The would-be abductor was chased down by bystanders, who held him until police arrived.
04:30He was charged with kidnapping and child cruelty.
04:33The suspect, Terri Ransom, was then tackled and held by people until police arrived.
04:38He was arrested on suspicion of trying to abduct the girl.
04:41Brittany Baxter
04:42Georgeann Baxter was at a Walmart in Bremen, Georgia with her daughter Brittany,
04:47when her worst nightmare nearly became a reality.
04:55Brittany was playing in the toy section by herself when she was grabbed by 25-year-old Thomas Woods.
05:06Woods, who had just been released on parole after serving prison time for manslaughter,
05:10was captured by surveillance cameras getting into his car and driving away.
05:14Police were able to use this footage to track him to his house,
05:17where he was arrested in less than an hour.
05:19Police arrested 25-year-old Thomas Woods,
05:22who was recently released from state prison out on parole for manslaughter.
05:26Although he denied even being at the store, Woods was charged with attempted kidnapping.
05:32Kennedy Nash
05:33The doorbell camera at the Nash family house in Ohio
05:36captured the attempted abduction of one of their daughters in 2022.
05:40So proud of her, so proud of her because as soon as she screamed, he let go.
05:45So obviously, you know, it does work.
05:48Kennedy Nash was taking out the trash when a man, identified as Derek McPherson,
05:53approached her and grabbed her by the arm.
05:55The young girl let out a piercing scream,
05:57prompting McPherson to release her and quickly walk past.
06:01The whole encounter lasting less than 10 seconds.
06:03As Kennedy pulled away and screamed, the man quickly letting go.
06:07Kennedy rushed back into the house and relayed the incident to her dad, Ricky,
06:11who got in his car and chased down the culprit.
06:13He was later taken in by authorities and brought up on charges of abduction
06:17and inappropriate grabbing.
06:19Ricky's swift chase may have secured McPherson's capture,
06:22but it was Kennedy's quick thinking that prevented the tragedy altogether.
06:25McPherson appeared in a Butler County courtroom,
06:27where he has been indicted on two counts of abduction and unlawful restraint.
06:31Brittany Diggs
06:32It looked like something out of a Hollywood action movie.
06:3525-year-old Brittany Diggs had already been abducted at gunpoint by Manuel Towns,
06:40who had repeatedly threatened to kill her.
06:42He was like, well, since you don't have any money,
06:47you're going to help me get money.
06:48Towns forced her into the trunk of her car and drove around
06:51in hopes of using her debit card to take out cash.
06:54This led him to a gas station in Birmingham,
06:57where he seemed to have withdrawn money from the convenience store ATM.
07:00Brittany says panic was setting in.
07:03My biggest fear was he was going to drive this car into a river.
07:07I'm going to drown here and nobody's going to know I'm in this trunk.
07:09As Towns returned to the car and slowly pulled out of the parking lot,
07:13Diggs popped the trunk using the interior latch and bolted into the store.
07:17The Alabama nursing student made it to safety
07:20and her captor was arrested by police about a week later.
07:22A jury convicts Manuel Towns of several charges,
07:25including kidnapping, robbery, and two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card.
07:29Estella, a brave California girl
07:32On August 16th, 2019, a girl identified as Estella was walking down the street
07:37in a California neighborhood when she was accosted by Henry Oscar Mazariegos Gonzalez.
07:43The assailant grabbed Estella off the street and tried forcing her into his vehicle.
07:47Surveillance video shows early Tuesday morning while walking down Rutland Avenue,
07:51Estella came face to face with a man in a white truck who police say tried to kidnap her.
07:57At some point, he reportedly struck her in the head with a hammer.
08:01After briefly letting go of the weapon, the brave girl grabbed it
08:04and hit Mazariegos Gonzalez, freeing herself from his hold.
08:08I didn't have much arm swing, but I just tried to do what I could.
08:12It was enough for him to let her go, and Estella ran as fast as she could
08:16as the kidnapper got back into his white Toyota Tundra and drove off.
08:20Mazariegos Gonzalez remained on the run for nearly a year
08:23until he was apprehended by the police on April 19th, 2020, in Guatemala.
08:28Unfortunately, the culprit never faced justice,
08:31as he took his own life in his jail cell before he could be extradited to the US.
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08:51Alyssa Bonal
08:53This terrifying footage from a street surveillance camera in Florida
08:56showed the exact moment young Allison Bonal was nearly abducted.
09:00This shocking video has been played thousands of times across the country.
09:03Bonal was waiting at a bus stop on the morning of May 18th, 2021,
09:07when a white minivan parked just beside her. The driver of the vehicle, Jared Paul Stanga,
09:13was captured running toward Bonal and grabbing her as she attempted to scurry away.
09:17She fought and she fought and she fought until finally she was able to break free.
09:24Stanga, who was reportedly wielding a knife, was unsuccessful,
09:27as Bonal fought tooth and nail to regain her freedom. According to the young girl,
09:32she was inspired by Law & Order SVU to rub the blue slime she had been playing with on Stanga's arms.
09:38She was playing with blue slime when he grabbed her and she made sure to wipe some of it on him.
09:45That trick gave investigators just the evidence they needed.
09:49This helped police to definitely identify him as the culprit upon his eventual arrest.
09:55Do you have words for these brave victims? Share them in the comments.

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