Inset: Dominic Sacco (Strongsville Police Department). Background: A section of Fair Road in Strongsville, Ohio (Google Maps).Â
An Ohio man attempted to abduct a 15-year-old girl while she was waiting for the bus to go to school, authorities say.
Dominic Anthony Sacco, 27, is being held by the Strongsville Police Department on abduction charges, the law enforcement agency announced in a press release. The harrowing incident unfolded on Friday before the sun had hardly risen.
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Just prior to 6:40 a.m., a 15-year-old girl was standing by the side of Fair Road in Strongsville, waiting for the bus to take her to school, the local police department said. Then, “she was approached and grabbed by an adult male subject.”
The girl “pulled away from the man” and ran back into her home, police added. Soon, officers arrived and began investigating. Police said they found a man about a quarter mile away from where the girl said she was grabbed.
The man – later revealed to be Sacco – was “positively identified as the subject that grabbed the juvenile” and placed under arrest, the department said.
Strongsville City Schools Superintendent Cameron Ryba said he was “deeply concerned” by the attempted abduction.
“A Strongsville High School student experienced a serious safety situation when a 27-year-old man approached and grabbed her,” Ryba said, according to a copy of the statement obtained by Cleveland-based CBS affiliate WOIO. “Thanks to her courage and the swift response of the Strongsville Police Department, the man was identified and arrested.”
The statement goes on:
As both a Superintendent and a father, I am deeply concerned by this incident. I am extremely grateful for the student”s strength in protecting herself and for the immediate actions of the Strongsville Police Department to ensure her safety and to quickly arrest this individual.
As a community, we will continue working together to ensure this remains an isolated incident. Please take a moment to talk with your children, not to create fear, but to help them build awareness and confidence about what to do if they ever feel unsafe.
In comments to local ABC affiliate WEWS, another student at the unidentified girl’s school remarked on the incident.
“Is some grown man going to come after me and pull me by my backpack and pull me? Like it’s scary,” the girl told the TV station. “If I am going on a bike ride, if I’m going on a walk, is the same thing going to happen to me?”
Strongsville is located in the Cleveland metropolitan area, about 20 miles southwest of the major city.
