An 11-year-old Florida girl managed to thwart her own kidnapping with the help of some blue slime and a fondness for “Law & Order: SVU.”
On Tuesday morning, the girl, who has been identified in news reports only as “Alyssa,” was waiting for a school bus in Pensacola when a man jumped out of a white vehicle and ran toward her, according to Today.com.
“The man got out of his vehicle holding a knife, came towards me and I tried to run, but he caught me,” she told the “Today” show.
However, Alyssa fought back as the man tried to drag her to his car. After both of them fell to the ground, the suspect ran back to the vehicle and sped away.
Escambia County sheriff’s deputies apprehended Jared Paul Stanga, 30, a few hours later. Alyssa says she helped make it possible thanks to the use of a clever clue: blue slime.
At the time of the attempted kidnapping, Alyssa had been playing with some homemade blue slime, and she made sure to get some on her attacker. This played a role in Stanga’s arrest, according to “Inside Edition.”
“She had blue slime on her hands,” a sheriff’s department spokesman told reporters during a press conference. “The suspect, when we caught him, had blue slime all over his own arms.”
It’s a lesson Alyssa learned from her favorite TV show, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
“I knew that that might be better evidence if the cops do find him,” she told the “Today” show.
Stanga has been charged with attempted kidnapping of a child under 13 and aggravated assault and battery, and is being held on just over $1.5 million bond.
Alyssa’s mother said Stanga had also approached her daughter at the bus stop two weeks ago, according to “Inside Edition.”
The suspect reportedly has a history of sexual offenses including sexual offenses against children, according to the Pensacola News Journal. However, Stanga’s wife told Florida TV station WEAR TV that the incident is a misunderstanding.
“SVU” star Mariska Hargitay praised Alyssa for her quick thinking in an Instagram post.
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