A man has been arrested by the Kent Police Department after allegedly attempting to kidnap a six-year-old girl. KPD says the man was thwarted by several preteen girls who intervened to protect the child.

KPD reports that officers responded to an East Hill apartment complex on Kent Kangley Road around 8:18 p.m. on July 16 for a report of a man attempting to take a small girl. The caller informed the 911 dispatcher that they witnessed the man pick up the girl who was screaming.

The caller said the man did not appear to be a relative. The caller provided a description of the man allowing officers to locate him as they arrived. The man was detained following a short chase.

Witnesses informed an officer that an ice cream truck had entered the complex causing many children to run into the parking lot. The preteen girls were walking towards the truck when they spotted an adult male holding the wrist of their six-year-old neighbor.

The young girl’s brother was calling for her to come, but the girl was unable to break the man’s grip. The preteen girls used their phones to record the man before approaching him to tell him to leave the girl alone.

The man picked up the child and tried to speed walk away. The girls confronted the man and the little girl shook her head saying she did not know the man. The suspect put the victim down before the preteen girls grabbed her and took her to safety.

Witnesses told authorities that the suspect was a stranger. The 40-year-old Kent suspect was arrested for Kidnapping and booked into the King County Jail.