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GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina mother says she's thankful to the good Samaritan who stopped a man trying to kidnap her daughter.
Timothy Jon Fry, 55, tried to grab the 8-year-old girl as she came out of a restaurant's bathroom Dec. 27, Greensboro police spokesman Ron Glenn told news outlets Sunday.
The girl's mother, Heather Owens, told WFMY-TV she had suspicions about Fry from the moment she and her daughter sat down.
“I had already noticed a man sitting at the table adjacent to us,” Owens said. “He kinda gave me a little uneasy feeling and I was just like I'll keep an eye out on him.”
Another man also had the same suspicions, Owens said.
“He took a station behind this guy too and was watching the situation,” she said.
Then, the girl got up to use the bathroom. Owens said she followed her daughter part of the way, keeping an eye on the girl and their food. She says around the same time, Fry got up and lingered near the bathrooms.
The good Samaritan got up, too.
“He went off behind the guy and pretty much by the time that he got to the bathroom, my daughter was coming out, and the man grabbed at her,” Owens said.
The good Samaritan confronted Fry and he let go of the girl and left the restaurant, police spokesman Glenn said.
Before Fry got away, the good Samaritan was able to take his picture, as well as photos of the truck Fry was driving and its license plate. Police say that helped them capture Fry quickly.
An officer spotted the truck about an hour later and Fry was arrested, Glenn said.
The girl's mother is grateful to the good Samaritan.
“He got the biggest hug in the entire word,” Owens said. “I went to him and said thank you, you are a guardian angel.”
Fry has been charged with attempted kidnapping and indecent liberties with children, police said. He's being held at the Guilford County jail on a $300,000 bond. It's unclear whether he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
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