A woman in Georgia helped save a kidnapped boy after she stumbled upon the child trapped in the trunk of a car.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, explained she approached the boy after she saw his head peeking out of the parked car’s trunk at the Clayton County Department of Driver Services, WSB reports.
“I have an 8-year-old son myself so it really scared me,” she said, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Her daughter had seen the boy using the automatic release latch inside to presumably allow some air in, cooling him off.
That’s when she asked the boy what was going on.
“So I asked the kid, ‘What are you doing in the trunk?,'” the woman asked. “He said, ‘He told me to hide.’ ‘Who is he?’ He said ‘My Mom’s ex-boyfriend.’ I took the kid out of the trunk.”
The rescuer added that the child explained his mother did not know where he was.
The woman says she called the police, who arrested the man: 54-year-old Charlie Woods, despite him having quickly driven away from the scene.
Woods has since been charged with first-degree child cruelty, false imprisonment, and kidnapping as well as other charges.
He claims he is innocent, having repeatedly stated, “I didn’t do it.”
Woods is not the first ex-boyfriend to be arrested for kidnapping back in June 2016, WSOC reports.
A South Carolina man was arrested after he allegedly beat and kidnapped his girlfriend, leading police on a chase that ran through multiple states.
Police were able to arrest the man, Clint Kiker, and save the woman. She was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“We are thankful this domestic violence victim was able to escape and that she did not suffer more serious injuries,” Sheriff Barry Faile said. “The rapid response to our calls for assistance to surrounding agencies resulted in the quick rescue of this young woman and the arrest of Kiker. We appreciate the help and are happy that Kiker is in jail.”
Sources: WSB, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WSOC