In a terrifying moment caught on camera, a mother fought a would-be kidnapper as he attempted to snatch her daughter inside a Dollar General store in Hernando, Florida at around 11:45 AM on Tuesday [June 7, 2016].
Investigators are saying that it was a 30-year old Craig Bonello who attempted to make off with an unidentified 13-year old girl while she was shopping with her mother. On the tape, Bonello can be seen violently dragging the young teen down the across the floor of the Dollar General.
The girl’s mother instinctively chases down the culprit, prying her daughter from the suspect’s clutch in what the Citrus County sheriff’s office described as an instance of “tug-of-war.”
Eventually, Bonello lets go of the teenage girl and flees the Dollar General in an attempt to escape. However, as luck would have it, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy was making his way into the store and Bonello ran out.
After being alerted of the situation, Deputy Jonathan Behnen pulled his patrol car around and blocked Bonello’s vehicle in the parking lot, ordering the suspect out of his car at gunpoint.
“In my 10 years on the road I have never seen anything like this,” says Sgt. Craig Callahan in a statement from the sheriff’s office. “He truly intended to abduct this child right in front of everyone in the store.”
Investigators say that any motive has yet to be established. They also cite that while Bonello is not a registered sex offender, he has been arrested for various offenses that range from trespassing to attacking an officer. According to the sheriff’s office, Bonello will be charged with one count each of kidnapping and child abuse.
WARNING: This video contains graphic imagery.