Mother stops abduction: 'I just got up and socked him in the face'

By KATU.com Staff Published: Aug 27, 2012 at 1:00 PM PDT Last Updated: Aug 28, 2012 at 12:24 AM PDT
Mother stops abduction: 'I just got up and socked him in the face' »Play Video
Antoinette Robinson and her daughter Xavieria.

PORTLAND, Ore. – An alert mother said she used a 2x4 to wallop a 17-year-old boy who was trying to abduct her young daughter as the girl played outside a home.

Police credited quick action by Antoinette Robinson and neighbors with helping them capture the suspect. He was being held down by neighbors when officers arrived.

Lt. Robert King with the Portland Police Bureau said the attempted abduction happened on Sunday evening around 6:30 near 169th Avenue and Lafayette Street in Southeast Portland.

Robinson became concerned when she heard muffled screams from Xavieria, her 6-year-old daughter. The screams were coming from an area where children were playing.

"She was outside playing with her friend, right by the bush, by the front door and I’m sitting there watching TV, and I thought I heard her call me," Robinson told KATU. "When I looked I saw a man with his hand around her mouth and her body.”

Robinson said the suspect was trying to pull Xavieria into the bushes. She jumped into action and ran at the suspect.

"He put his hand over me, and then he pushed me in the bushes and then my mom came out," said Xavieria. "I thought he was going to take me."

"Motherly instincts. I just got up and socked him in the face and then he let her go," she said. "I went to hit him again and he grabbed my hand and rolled down the hill a little bit, then I got on top of him and started socking him in the face.”

Officers later told her that the suspect was high on mushrooms, Robinson said.

Neighbors heard the scuffle and came to Robinson's aid. She hopped in a car to chase the boy as other neighbors followed him on foot, police said.

"I got out of the car and hit him with a 2x4 and I broke that over him and he took off again," Robinson said. "We’re all chasing him again and good citizens blocked him in somebody’s yard, and being mad, I just stepped in his face.”

Neighbors were holding the suspect down when police arrived and arrested him near 164th and Division.

Surveillance video captured the take-down. It shows the suspect attempting to run away. He trips near a pickup truck and then is surrounded by neighbors who pin him against the truck. At least one of them kicks the suspect a couple times.

Robinson said her family lives in the St. Johns area but was in Southeast Portland for a barbecue.

The suspect was taken to the city’s juvenile detention hall. He faces kidnapping and harassment charges.

KATU.com is not naming the suspect because he is a minor and, as of now, has not been charged as an adult.

School officials say the boy was a wrestler, but is no longer enrolled in high school.

Assault detectives are still investigating the case, King said.

Read more: Tips for parents on talking to kids about “stranger danger”