Man Arrested For Allegedly Trying to Kidnap Girl From Victorville Store

VICTORVILLE (CBSLA.com) — A Hesperia man has been arrested on suspicion of trying to abduct a girl at a Victorville mobile phone store.

Security video showed a young mother walking into a mobile phone and computer store at 15303 7th Street around 2:30 p.m. on July 1. She was holding her baby while her four-year-old daughter played with a candy machine by the door.

The store's owner said the woman told him she had noticed a strange man in the parking lot. "She had said that the guy was looking at her from when she got out of her car, but she didn't think he would follow her," said the owner, who asked not to be identified.

But he did and quickly grabbed her daughter by the arm. "She was just screaming, crying. She couldn't believe it," he recalled.

The girl's mother, along with another customer, immediately ran after her daughter.

Fortunately, the girl quickly managed to break free from the kidnapper. She was so terrified she was clinging to her mother's leg.

Craig Battles, who was cutting hair next door, ran out when he heard the commotion. "She was crying. She wasn't screaming. She was really terrified," he said. "So when he ran...me, my clients. I was cutting hair. A couple of people was waiting. We all ran around there to see what was going on."

Witnesses said the kidnapper then sat in traffic. "I saw him sit down in the middle of the street and laugh, and then he got up and started running again," said Stella Moriel, the store owner's wife.

Witnesses said that's when bystanders tackled the suspected kidnapper, identified as 24-year-old Terry Ransom, and held him until deputies arrived.

Macias and his wife have a six-year-old. "It could have easily been my daughter if I had brought her to work with me," said Moriel.

The victim was scared and upset but did not appear to suffer any physical injuries, according to Media Relations Officer Mara Rodriguez.

Ransom is being held on $250,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court in Victorville Wednesday.