Little Village attempted kidnapping victim speaks out

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The victim of an attempted kidnapping in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood speaks out in an effort to save lives.

The 20-year-old victim did not want to use her name or show her face, but she spoke exclusively to ABC7 about what happened as she walked to a bus stop Friday morning.

The alleged abduction happened around 8 a.m. Friday near 27th and Keeler.

"He pulled up in the car. He seen me, and slowed down immediately. And he smiled at me," the victim said.

She said the man in the minivan started calling out to her, but was using the wrong name.

"He actually called me 'Brenda'. He spoke to me. Said, "Hey Brenda, Brenda!" she said.

She told him he was mistaken and said eventually, he drove off. Only he did not go far. He parked his car, then snuck up on her.

"He lifted me off the ground a little bit," she said. "I immediately threw my weight to the floor, I was scared he'd toss me over his shoulder. I only weigh 115 pounds."

It's what she did next that she believes saved her life, and what she hopes other women will do in the same situation.

First she grabbed the closest thing she could. In this case, an iron fence.Then she said she screamed a specific phrase, which she thinks, alarmed her neighbors enough to come out of their homes.

"At first I said, 'Help, help.' I was just screaming for help. And then, I started saying, 'Please someone help me! Someone help me, please,'" she said.

Neighbors heard her screams and came to her aid.

Cell phone video shows the alleged attacker struggling to escape but neighbors wouldn't let go. Moments earlier the woman's screams had rattled the neighborhood.

"I woke up scared. It was almost like someone was trying to kill her because she was screaming really loud. She was screaming, "Help me! Help me!" Irma Ruiz, a neighbor, said.

She said she fell to the ground and was dragged for several yards until she grabbed onto a wrought-iron fence.

A woman was on her way to work Friday morning when she said two men pulled up in a car and tried to abduct her in Little Village.

Eberardo Delapaz was one of the people that helped the victim by helping to subdue the suspect.

"There was no time to get dressed up or nothing, so I ran outside," he said.

At one point, the man breaks free and runs into the street, bumping into a stopped vehicle, but he didn't get far. He was caught down the block after a neighbor, who is just 14, chases him down.

Delapaz and other neighbors held on until police arrived.

"The guy was saying he wasn't doing nothing. He was like, 'Why are you guys holding me down? Let me go! Let me go!' and we're like, "No, dude, you're going to stay here until the cops get here," he said.

The woman says she suffered scrapes on her back and leg but she wasn't seriously injured. She said she's grateful to those who came to her aid.

"This is a community watch neighborhood, so all the neighbors, we communicate with each other. So this block is pretty safe, I consider it," Delapaz said.

The suspect, Juan Robles, 35, has been charged with kidnapping. He appeared in bond court Saturday where a judge set his bond at $850,000.

Investigators do not yet have a motive for the attack but in court, prosecutors said the victim did not know the man prior to the attempted kidnapping.

The victim told ABC7 one day she hopes to gain back the courage to be able to walk down her street alone.