Alyssa Bonal West Pensacola Florida 11 year old girl who fought off kidnapper thanks Law & Order episode for saving her life.
The 11-year-old Florida girl seen in viral video fighting off a knife-wielding man reportedly knew to leave blue slime evidence on her would-be kidnapper thanks to watching ‘Law & Order: SVU’ with her mom.
Amber Bonal, 30, told the Pensacola News Journal that her daughter, Alyssa, was playing with the homemade blue substance while waiting for her bus in West Pensacola early Tuesday when she saw the man running toward her.
‘Her first words were, ‘Somebody tried to kidnap me! He grabbed me by my throat and he had a knife!’’ Bonal told the news outlet. ‘She said she was able to kick and she tripped him and freed herself.’
Added the mother: ‘She said, ‘Mom, I had to leave some sort of evidence behind, like on ‘Law & Order SVU.’ We’ve watched probably every episode on Hulu. She’s a smart cookie, she thinks on her toes. She got that slime everywhere.’
In addition to the surveillance footage, the blue slime helped investigators collar Jared Paul Stanga, who has been charged with attempted kidnapping, aggravated assault and battery following his arrest on Tuesday.
‘What is he going to do with me?’
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said the suspect had a white Dodge Journey with a matching license plate like the one seen in the footage.
Stanga tried to paint over his vehicle’s front chrome bumper with black paint by the time police arrived at his home. The would be abductor also had telltale blue dye on his arms, according to Simmons.
Sheriff Chip Simmons said Stanga has a lengthy criminal history, including sexual abuse of a child.
‘What is he going to do with me?’ Alyssa recalled as the attacker approached her according to WKRG. ‘Where is he going to…where am I going to be at? What is my family going to think? Scared … anxious.’
Alyssa added: ‘He had a knife in his hand. I tried running off but he grabbed me. He took me with his arm and I was able to get him down to the ground and I was able to get away.’
Her neighbor’s door was open so she ran to his house.
‘She comes running around the corner toward me hollering my name and some guy was trying to get her,’ Douglass Rudolph told WKRG.
Man first approached her two weeks earlier while waiting at bus stop
Amber said she has been trying to move her family – which includes her son, Christopher, 18-month-old daughter, Jazzlyn, who live in a trailer – to ‘a better part of town,’ but has been out of work during the pandemic.
Despite the hardships, the mother said Alyssa has excelled in school at West Pensacola Elementary, where she recently made the honor roll.
‘She’s very smart. She loves school,’ Amber said. ‘She’s very shy and timid, but once the outer shell goes away, she’s just a ball of energy. She’s very funny, spunky, different.’
Alyssa’s bus stop used to be at the end of their driveway, but because of a bus driver shortage, the school district moved it about 50 yards away.
On April 29, Amber said her daughter came home from school and told her that a strange man had approached her. It remained unclear if that man was Stanga.
‘She told me that a man in a white car pulled up, spoke to her and said ‘hello’ or ‘Hola’ or something,’ she said. ‘He proceeded to get out of the car, and then that’s when she ran off to the next bust stop and got on the bus. She went to school, told her teacher and the teacher told the principal.’
‘I could have lost her forever’
Although Alyssa is still recovering from the trauma, the 11 year old went to school the day after the attempted kidnapping, because she ‘wanted to finish her FSA testing,’ her mom said, referring to the Florida Statewide Assessments.
Amber doesn’t own a car, so Alyssa’s aunt drove her to school this time.
‘If she would have been taken …’ Amber reflected. ‘If she would have been taken, I could have lost her forever.’
Stanga remained in custody pending bond which has been set at over $1.5 million, with $1 million of that for the attempted kidnapping charge, $500,000 for the aggravated assault charge, along with $5,000 for the battery charge.
If released, Stanga will be placed on a monitor and will not be allowed to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18.
The man’s next court appearance is set for June 10.
