[URL]http://www.bakersfield.com/top/story/659259p-702117c.html[/URL]
[B]Brother's cries thwarted kidnapping
By DEBBY BADILLO, Californian correspondent
Tuesday August 14, 2001, 11:02:00 PM
Saturday's attempted kidnapping of a 7-year-old girl in Rosamond may have been successful if not for her 10-year-old brother, whose shouting may have caused the attacker to flee, officials said.
The boy was hailed as a hero Tuesday by deputies, who said he alerted his parents and possibly scared the suspect away by yelling at him.
The children's parents, Jeff and Pamela Anderson, describe their children as "very close," and said their son is only now starting to realize what he did was heroic.
"(Our daughter's) fine. She's very strong. She was comforting us," Pamela Anderson said at a Tuesday press conference that was called to ask for the public's help in finding the attacker.
"This is a kidnapping with a happy ending," Sgt. Jeff Niccoli said. "This type of incident where they penetrate the home is very rare."
The suspect dropped the 7-year-old girl, who was not named, a short distance from her home in the 1000 block of Hampshire Way.
According to deputies, the children were asleep on a couch in the family living room Saturday when an intruder entered the home at about 4:45 a.m. and carried the girl out the door and a short distance into the desert beyond the house.
Her brother awoke to see what was happening and shouted "don't take my sister," while she struggled in the man's arms until he dropped her and fled on foot.
By then, Jeff Anderson had come out of the house as well.
Either the brother's shouting or the girl's struggle convinced the suspect to let her go, Niccoli said.
The girl sustained only minor injuries around her nose, where the suspect placed his hand over her mouth.
At the conference, Niccoli and Senior Deputy Bill Johnson, the lead investigator in the case, displayed a cigarette lighter case and lighter that might have been dropped by the suspect.
The black leather case is decorated with an eight-ball design and a belt loop, while the lighter is a Zippo embossed with a Jim Beam logo.
The suspect is described as a white male with a thin build, 19 to 30, wearing a black nylon or satin jacket and dark clothing.
Deputies want anyone who recognizes the items to call the Rosamond Sheriff's substation at 256-2511.
Any bit of information, no matter how small, is important, Niccoli said.
"I want to tell people, 'Lock your doors.' This intrusion changes the way you look at your surroundings, your home, the things you took for granted," Jeff Anderson said. "It was a real wake-up call." [/B][smoke]