'So incredibly rare': Suspect to face judge after 2 kidnapping attempts in Macomb County
MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - A man accused of trying to snatch two children in Macomb County on Tuesday is expected to face a judge on Thursday afternoon.
UPDATE: Endi Bala was arraigned in the kidnapping attempts on Thursday.
The 23-year-old suspect from Shelby Township was arraigned on kidnapping charges for the crimes that happened just about an hour apart.
Police said a 7-year-old girl was with her family at Clinton River Park North in Sterling Heights. They were getting ready to leave when the suspect "grabbed her by her hair and carried her to the car real quick," the girl's uncle, Dylan Childers, said.
As the girl's aunt fought with the suspect in an attempt to get her back, the suspect allegedly ran over Childers' 8-year-old son who tried to stop the suspect's vehicle with his bike.
"As I turned around, I seen the (man) backing up – (which) is when he ran over the little boy," said Scott Vanluven. "So, then I pulled in front of his vehicle."
Vanluven, a volunteer with Citizens on Patrol in Sterling Heights, stopped the suspect and got him out of his vehicle until police arrived.
Police said the abductor is also suspected of trying to kidnap a 15-year-year-old girl in Clinton Township about an hour earlier. A good Samaritan also thwarted that kidnapping attempt.
"It's every parent's worst nightmare," Sterling Heights Police Chief Dale Dwojakowski said. "This is what they make movies about. It's so incredibly rare, but this is what was happening."