A Murrieta, California father is warning fellow parents after a man tried to kidnap his daughter in an incident that was caught on camera.
Michael Angodung was playing volleyball with his daughter, Kassidy, in the driveway last Sunday and went inside to get some water. That brief period is all it took for the kidnapper to make his move.
The 10-year-old was bouncing the volleyball when the stranger stopped on the sidewalk and told her he wanted to see her shirt. Another neighbor’s camera picked up the audio.
“Hey, what is that shirt? Let me see that shirt,” the man told her.
Get Southern California news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC LA newsletters.
The video then shows the man chasing Kassidy up the driveway, but she runs into her home, screaming that the man was trying to kidnap her. The man then quickly walks down the street and out of sight.
“As a father, as a parent, this is literally your worst nightmare,” Angodung said.
He said he called the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, but the suspect had already left the area.
Local
Angodung said the officer he spoke with is in charge of the schools in the area, and it was the first time he heard of something similar happening around the neighborhood.
Angodung said he is grateful his daughter is physically OK, but the encounter has had a traumatic impact on her. These days, she has trouble sleeping and doesn’t want to walk or bike to school anymore.
Angodung is proud of the way Kassidy reacted under the circumstances, and he’s hoping other parents will talk to their kids about stranger danger and how to handle similar situations.
"I'm mad. I'm furious, I don't want any parent to go through this sort of trauma or any kid to undergo this trauma again, and I just want to make sure this guy is caught,” Angodung said.
