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'Parent's worst nightmare': Sterling Heights volunteer saves girl from abduction

By Lauren Edwards and Nour Rahal
Published  August 14, 2024 5:28pm EDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 2 Detroit

Police: Shelby Twp. man arrested after 2 kidnapping attempts

The 23-year-old man accused of trying to abduct a 7-year-old girl at a Sterling Heights park Tuesday afternoon also tried kidnapping a 15-year-old less than an hour before in Clinton Township, police say.

STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. (FOX 2) - A volunteer with Citizens on Patrol in Sterling Heights helped rescue a 7-year-old girl from a man who was attempting to abduct her on Tuesday, according to police.

Scott Vanluven has been a volunteer with the group, which helps police keep streets safe, for nearly two decades. 

"Never in the 19 years have I seen anything like this," he said. "At least happen in front of my face."

Vanluven was not on patrol when he witnessed an altercation at the entrance of North Clinton River Park in Sterling Heights, he said. He was coming home from work.

A woman, who according to police is the 7-year-old girl's aunt, was hanging out of the suspect's vehicle, holding onto his steering wheel in an attempt to stop him from taking off with her niece.

Vanluven said he immediately turned around to help. 

Scott Vanluven of Sterling Heights

Sterling Heights Chief Dale Dwojakowski said police first got a call regarding the incident around 2:20 p.m., and then received information that a child had been run over by a vehicle. When police arrived, Vanluven had already made the suspect get out of his car and held him until officers arrested him.

"We had a 23-year-old suspect pull into one of our parks, see a 7-year-old girl on her bicycle, and he parks his car, he runs over to the side of the road, grabs the girl," Dwojakowski said.

FOX 2 spoke to the 7-year-old girl's uncle, Dylan Childers, hours after the attempted abduction took place. Childers said his wife and their 8-year-old son were with their niece at the park – and as they were leaving, the suspect stopped his car, ran after his niece, "grabbed her by her hair and carried her to the car real quick."

As his wife fought with the suspect, who is from Shelby Township, Childers' 8-year-old son tried to help too by pulling up his bicycle in front of the suspect's car. The boy was allegedly run over in the process, injuring his leg.

"As I turned around, I seen the (man) backing up – (which) is when he ran over the little boy," Vanluven, the police volunteer, said. "So then I pulled in front of his vehicle."

According to Childers, his son had to receive treatment at a local hospital for his leg injury.

The 23-year-old man accused of trying to abduct the girl also tried kidnapping another juvenile less than an hour before in Clinton Township, police say. He grabbed a 15-year-old girl around the head and attempted to force her into the rear door of his vehicle.

A resident nearby intervened, allowing the victim to flee and alert police, later calling 911. The suspect then fled in a white sedan, according to Clinton Township police.

"The suspect was charged with attempted unlawful imprisonment, a five year felony, and assault and battery, a 93-day-misdemeanor, in the Clinton Township incident," according to a release from the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office. "He was charged with kidnapping/child enticement, a life felony, reckless driving, a 93-day misdemeanor, and assault and battery, a 93-day misdemeanor in the Sterling Heights incident."

The suspect will be arraigned on Thursday in the Clinton Township District Court and the Sterling Heights District Court.

Sterling Heights Chief Dwojakowski said he does not believe the man knew the victims, and encouraged all adults to be on the lookout, like Vanluven was.

"It’s every parent's worst nightmare. This is what they make movies about," Dwojakowski said. "It’s so incredibly rare, but this is what was happening."