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SALT LAKE CITY — A quick-acting teenager was able to avoid an attempted abduction early Tuesday after she was able to fight off a 42-year-old man who is accused of grabbing her.
The girl was walking home from a 7-Eleven convenience store at 1700 S. Main around 9:30 a.m., when she was asked if she needed a ride home by a man passing by, Salt Lake Police Sgt. Shawn Josephson said. The girl decline the offer.
"He kind of pulled his car over so she couldn't continue walking," Josephson said. "He blocked her path a little bit and then got out and grabbed her by the arm."
The teenager pulled back and was able to kick the man before running home to call police.
"We're glad that she did have that fight in her to free herself and get herself into a safe environment where she could call us," Josephson said.
The girl described the man as a white male in a silver vehicle wearing a red plaid shirt.
Josephson said the man's description was dispatched over the radio and an officer was able to spot the vehicle and identify the suspect.
Rogers Fowers, 42, was arrested for investigation of kidnapping and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail. He was arrested "without and fights or injuries," Josephson said.
Fowers pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in 1994, according to Utah State court records. He also pleaded guilty to a tail light violation in 2006 in exchange for a misdemeanor drug possession charge being dismissed.
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Story written by Emily Morgan, with contributions from Marc Giauque.
