Authorities in Florida are praising a Good Samaritan for his “heroic” actions in rescuing a 9-year-old boy who was kidnapped and selling water on the street.
The incident occurred around 9 p.m. on June 27 in Jacksonville, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The boy was selling water to people at the intersection of Edgewood Avenue and Moncrief Road when a woman, later identified as Mikaya Williams, 22, approached him in her car. He did not know Williams and had not seen her before, according to police.
Williams allegedly said, “Get in the car, your mum said get in the car” and “Come here, get in the car, I got your money.” The woman allegedly pushed the boy into the car after placing his cooler in the back.
“Once inside the car, he said he was crying, shaking, and screaming,” detectives reported. “He stated the suspect turned the car radio up and was speeding with him inside.”
That is when Shameika Dowell, the Good Samaritan, stepped in. She knows the boy and his family and witnessed the alleged kidnapping.
“I am like, ‘Are you serious?,'” Dowell was recalled to WJAX, a local NBC affiliate. “I am looking at someone grabbing one of our children and pulling them into the car. It was a case of “think fast, Meika, move quickly.” You have got to get this child and move quickly.”
Dowell got in her car and chased Williams down. Dowell eventually caught up with the suspect and cornered her, she told the television station.
She dashed up to the suspect vehicle and began kicking the passenger door until it opened. Dowell took out the boy and his cooler.
Police arrested Williams and returned the boy to his family. Following Miranda, Williams stated that she was taking her “crazy medicine” at the time of the incident.
“JSO thanks the heroic witness who stepped in and helped rescue the child from a dangerous situation,” the agency wrote on Facebook.
Williams is being held in the Jacksonville jail without bond after being charged with kidnapping. Her next court date is set for July 21.
