Lincoln mom fights off would-be kidnapper

Lincoln Police say a woman reported an attempted kidnapping on Wednesday night, after a man tried to take her son out of his stroller.

The woman was walking with her two-year-old son in his stroller Wednesday night around 10 p.m. near 80th and Holdrege, when man in a gold jeep-style SUV stopped, got out of his car and tried to grab her son by the leg. The woman fought back with the man, bear-hugging and tackling him, and kicking him. The man then threw the woman into a light pole, got back in his SUV and drove away. The mom and the 2 year-old were not hurt. 

Neighbors in the area tell Channel 8 that the incident has them on edge. 

“Having kids is definitely…makes me a little more nervous, and just having it down the street here is yeah, kinda scary,” says neighbor Karen Badeer, who has only lived in the neighborhood for about a month. 

Lincoln Police are still looking for the suspect. Officer Angela Sands offers a description of the vehicle and man stating “Gold, jeep style SUV  pulled up next to her and stopped….victim described the man as a white male in his 40s to 50s, six foot one, 250 pounds, brown eyes and brown hair, a receding hairline with a thin pointy nose.”

Lincoln woman Debra Pickens tells Channel 8 she saw a suspicious man and vehicle parked on her street Thursday that matched the description given to police.

“That’s especially why I called…he was very nervous, antsy, looked like he was taking notes, jotting notes.”

There have been three attempted kidnappings and an attempted child enticement in the Lincoln area in the last two months. Lincoln Police are encouraging parents to talk with their kids about the dangers of talking to strangers.”

“Types of things children should do if they are out and about, alone and an adult approaches them, and let them know to seek out an adult when they feel uncomfortable,” says Officer Sands. 

As far as the attempted kidnapping of the two year old in the stroller, neighbors say it shows this can happen anywhere. 

“I feel like this neighborhood is really quiet and there’s a lot of nice families that live here and it just…I don’t know, its not a bad area at all,” says Badeer. 

If you have any information on Wednesday’s scare, or any other case, you are encouraged to call the Lincoln Police.