A good Samaritan thwarted the brazen, broad-daylight abduction of a 7-year-old girl from a Michigan park as her aunt desperately hung onto the side of the would-be kidnapper's car to try to keep him from getting away.
Surveillance video caught Endi Bala, 23, allegedly snatching the unidentified girl as she bicycled in Clinton River North Park in Sterling Heights, a suburb north of Detroit, midafternoon Tuesday.
Bala was allegedly driving off with the girl when her aunt ran up, reached through the car's window and grabbed the steering wheel of the moving vehicle, police said Thursday.
But the wild scene was interrupted when Scott VanLuven, a member of the Sterling Heights Citizens Patrol, saw what was happening while driving home from work and used his truck to block Bala's car, police said.
VanLuven "then removed the suspect from the vehicle and did not let him leave until police arrived on scene," police said.
"If it were not for the quick actions of the little girl's aunt, as well as Scott VanLuven, who knows what would have happened to that poor child," the Sterling Heights Police wrote on Facebook.
Police also called them both "absolute HEROES," and praised them for being "quick to act."
The alarming incident took place about an hour after Bala allegedly also tried to abduct a 15-year-old girl in nearby Clinton Township.
The teen, identified only as "Alexis," told Detroit TV station WXYZ that she "started flailing my arms around, screaming for help" when Bala allegedly grabbed her as she walked home along Clinton River Road.
"He asked if he could drive me home twice, and I refused both times, and I started walking off," she said. "He got out of the car, grabbed my wrist. He said, 'I'm going to mess you up.'"
Neighbor Paul Billeter was doing yard work at the time and intervened, telling WXYZ that he "grabbed ahold of the guy" and told him, "You're not going anywhere with this girl and that's that."
That "felt like I was being saved by God. Honestly," Alexis said.
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said in a statement that the community owed an "immense debt of gratitude to the courageous Good Samaritans who stepped in without hesitation, risking their own safety to save these young girls."
"We will do everything in our power to ensure that the individual responsible for this terrifying act faces justice," Lucido added.
Bala, of Shelby Township, was arraigned on charges that include kidnapping and child enticement, which carries a maximum life sentence, in the Sterling Heights case, according to the Macomb County prosecutor's office.
He also faces a top charge of attempted unlawful imprisonment in the Clinton Township case.
Bala was being held without bond pending court appearances later this month.