Truck driver hit the brakes when a young woman chased by a 'cop' mouthed words that made him call 911 instantly
Anthony Moore's quick thinking saved a fresh school graduate from an alleged kidnapper
What started as a casual walk to her mother's house for a young woman in Aiken County, South Carolina, turned into an unexpected nightmare. Midway through her journey, she was stopped by a man driving a Cadillac posing as a law enforcement officer. He showed her a badge, and even cuffed her, and allegedly forced her into his car. Soon, she felt something off as he headed toward his trunk. Seeing this as a window of opportunity, the woman made a run for her life. That's when a truck driver, Anthony Moore, noticed her, and what happened next was nothing short of a miracle, as reported by Good Morning America (@goodmorningamerica) on June 4, in a clip that has garnered over 205,000 views since then.
Woman makes a frantic escape
Although the woman managed to escape, she was still cuffed and couldn't run as fast as she would've wanted to. Meanwhile, the man was still chasing her with his car. In fact, he was trying to run his car over her, changing directions every time she made a turn. It was then that Moore spotted her running frantically on the rural roads with her hands behind her back. Although his first thought was that this was a couple's fight, he then sensed something was horribly wrong.
Stole graduate's diploma
So, he decided to stop to help the woman. Soon, he got the grasp of the situation when the woman told her that her diploma and phone were in the man's car. “I said, ‘Your diploma?’” Moore said. “She said, ‘Yes, sir. I just graduated yesterday.’” She then told him that the man allegedly tried to kidnap her. Nonetheless, even though Moore sat her in his truck, the man didn't stop following her and pulled up next to his truck, trying to stop him.
However, Moore found it quite odd that a man in a teal green Cadillac with a busted-out window was a cop, and so he didn't waver even one bit. However, it was only when another driver pulled up next to Moore and called 911 that he sped up and fled the scene. The driver told the officials the entire incident, and stated that there was no way that man was with the law enforcement. Sure enough, the officers, upon reaching the scene of the crime, found evidence against this person.
Dashcam footage helped catch culprit
According to Fox Carolina, after taking a good look at the scene, the officers also acknowledged that Moore saved this young woman's life. Thanks to dash cam footage from Moore's truck, the police caught the culprit, identified as 39-year-old Jonathan Willard, just a day later. He has been charged with Impersonating a Law Enforcement Officer and Kidnapping, as per the June 1 press release from the Aiken County Sheriff's Office.
Women are the usual victims
According to the FBI's Child Victimization Special Report, law enforcement agencies reported more than 410,000 juvenile victims of murder, kidnapping/abduction, and aggravated assault between 2019 and 2023. Research on non-family child abductions found that 65% of victims were female, rising to 69% in stereotypical stranger-abduction cases. A study of child abduction cases reported that females accounted for about 70% of abduction victims, particularly in cases with a sexual motive.
People in the comments were praising Moore for taking action when most people would've ignored it. @mbandrade5 shared, "I’m glad that the truck driver stopped because many people nowadays would’ve looked and kept going, which is extremely sad, or they’ll keep going and then call 911, and by then she would’ve been dead; the fact that he stopped and dealt with it and saved her life is awesome and a blessing. That man was actually planning to kill her." Meanwhile, @skeeter923 commented, "Wow, she is very courageous!!!!! I'm glad the truck driver helped her out!!!!"
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