The man suspected of trying to kidnap a young Burien grocery store clerk is in jail Saturday after a judge ordered him held on $300,000 bond.
And his alleged victim is speaking out about her ordeal and the stranger who helped her escape.
“I had a gut feeling something was wrong, and I listened to it,” says the young woman, Tasha, who only wanted her first name used.
That gut feeling may have saved Tasha’s life.
The thought of what could have happened is a painful one for her mother, Tonya.
“That’s
…
The man suspected of trying to kidnap a young Burien grocery store clerk is in jail Saturday after a judge ordered him held on $300,000 bond.
And his alleged victim is speaking out about her ordeal and the stranger who helped her escape.
“I had a gut feeling something was wrong, and I listened to it,” says the young woman, Tasha, who only wanted her first name used.
That gut feeling may have saved Tasha’s life.
The thought of what could have happened is a painful one for her mother, Tonya.
“That’s a pretty scary thought — to be told your daughter was almost kidnapped,” she says.
The 21-year-old Albertson’s grocery clerk told police she was gathering carts in the store’s parking lot Friday night when a man came up to talk. Then he got physical.
“He was pulling my arm, a couple different times, and telling me I need to get into his van,” Tasha says.
Police say the man who grabbed her is 43. In a Saturday court hearing, a judge ordered him jailed on suspicion of attempted kidnapping.
(Seattlepi.com does not typically name suspects in criminal cases until they are charged.)
Officers arrested the man after he allegedly followed the victim into the store.
“I’m still in shock — it’s still like a dream to me,” says Tasha.
Her family wants to thank the officers who made the arrest and express gratitude to an unidentified woman in the parking lot who yelled at the suspect, distracting him enough so Tasha could get away.