3 kids kidnapped after good Samaritan stopped to help suspect in car crash
FILE IMAGE - Memphis police officers block off Central Ave. where a power line was downed across the road on February 3, 2022 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Brad Vest/Getty Images)
Police in Memphis are looking for a kidnapping suspect after three kids were driven off by the suspect in a vehicle Friday, Sept. 2.
Police say the kids have been found safe but the suspect is still wanted at this time.
The kidnapping reportedly happened after a car crash, and the kids were in the car with a man who stopped to offer assistance.
"I was watering my flowers and all of a sudden I heard a ‘Bam!’ and my daughter’s car is parked right on the street and I thought they hit her car. So I ran out and I saw the guy jump out of the white SUV, and I asked him if anything had happened,’ witness Mary Carpenter told FOX 13 in Memphis.
Shortly after that, she said the man involved in the crash actually asked her for a ride.
FOX 13 Memphis reports a different man happened to be driving by at the time and also witnessed the crash. He pulled over to help, just before 5 p.m. local time.
When the good Samaritan got out of his car, the man who had crashed the white SUV jumped in the good Samaritan’s car and took off — while three children were still inside the vehicle, FOX 13 reported.
The suspect dropped the kids off several blocks away just minutes later, according to police. Police say the suspect is still wanted and that he has a large gash on his forehead.
"I stopped to help and almost lost everything," the good Samaritan told WMC Action 5 News. "We have to stay closer because everything can be gone in the blink of an eye."
WMC reported the kids were 2, 4 and 6 years old — and that the white SUV the suspect had crashed was reported stolen.
RELATED: Who is Eliza Fletcher? Memphis teacher abducted during morning jog
Police in Memphis are investigating another high-profile kidnapping that also happened on Sept. 2.
A 34-year-old teacher hasn’t been seen since she went jogging early that morning. Police say she was "abducted and forced into a mid-sized, dark-colored SUV" around 4:30 a.m. local time.
This story was reported from Detroit.