A gas station clerk in Michigan has been hailed as a hero after he rescued a 16-year-old girl from a kidnapper when she mouthed the word 'help' to him. The teenager had been abducted at gunpoint while waiting for a school bus in Hamtramck on the morning of 13 April.
The man, later identified as Donald Fields, a 48-year-old registered sex offender, forced the girl into his vehicle and drove her to a Sunoco gas station in nearby Detroit. While inside, the suspect asked the girl to pay for cigarettes, at which point she silently mouthed 'help' to the clerk, Abdulrahman Abohatem.
Without hesitation, Abohatem stepped out from behind the protective glass, placed himself between the man and the girl, and ordered the suspect to leave. As he was escorting the man out, police officers arrived, having been alerted by the girl's classmates who had tracked her phone's location.
Abohatem pointed to the man and told officers, 'That's the guy.' Fields was arrested and later charged with criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, possession of a firearm, felonious assault, and being a habitual offender. The girl was safely reunited with her family.
Police Chief Hussein Farhat commended the clerk's actions, stating, 'I believe this could have gone a lot worse than it did.' Mayor Adam Alharbi also praised the community's vigilance and the victim's courage in seeking help. Abohatem, who is preparing for his wedding, said it felt 'good to save somebody.'
