In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous.
In Pensacola, Florida, an 11-year-old girl evaded and identified her attempted kidnapper based on her knowledge of Law & Order: SVU.
This is her story. (Dong, dong!)
Alyssa Bonal was waiting at her school bus stop early Tuesday, playing with some homemade slime.
A white Dodge Journey drove by once. Less than a minute later, the vehicle returned to the bus stop corner and parked.
Police allege that 30-year-old Jared Paul Stanga exited the SUV and bumrushed young Bonal, gripping her by the neck as she tried to escape.
“The man got out of his vehicle holding a knife, came towards me and I tried to run, but he caught me,” Alyssa recalled on Thursday’s Today show.
The quick-thinking tween left a crucial clue on the suspect during their melee—traces of her blue slime.
Alyssa’s mother, Amber, said their mutual love of TV crime shows influenced her improvised defense.
“She said, ‘Mom, I had to leave some sort of evidence behind, like on Law & Order SVU,’” Amber Bonal told the Pensacola News-Journal. “We’ve watched probably every episode on Hulu. She’s a smart cookie, she thinks on her toes.”
That blue slime is what led police to charge Stanga with attempted kidnapping, aggravated assault and battery.
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said a vehicle and license plate captured on surveillance camera matched a vehicle at Stanga’s home.
Simmons also said Stanga tried to paint over his front bumper with black paint, but that color didn’t help. Blue dye on Stanga’s arm led deputies to take him into custody Tuesday night.
It’ll take a lot of green for Stanga to be a free man before his trial—a judge set his bond at over $1.5 million.
This wasn’t the first time Alyssa’s encountered stranger-danger outside before. Her mom said two weeks earlier another creep approached her.
“She told me that a man in a white car pulled up, spoke to her and said ‘hello’ or ‘Hola’ or something,” Amber said. “He proceeded to get out of the car, and then that’s when she ran off to the next bust stop and got on the bus.”
SVU star Mariska Hargitay sent her congratulations to Alyssa on Instagram.
“You are one BRAVE, Strong and Smart young woman. I think the SVU squad might have to add slime to their crimefighting gear!”
Alyssa has bravely done her part to maintain law and order in Pensacola.
“I just feel proud of myself,” she said.
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