'Very brave!': Gas station cashier prevents kidnapping with quick-thinking action
When a distressed-looking woman entered the gas station last week in California where Savannah Pritchett worked, she had no idea what was about to happen next.
The woman grabbed Savannah's wrist and asked her to help her,explaining that she had been kidnapped by four men, and two of them were armed with guns.
With a million thoughts racing through her mind, Savannah locked the front door and took the woman to the bathroom.
Quick thinking by a gas station clerk saves a possible kidnapping victim#CAkidnapping #SavannahPritchett #RescueMe #911https://t.co/5ptimgi6Pg pic.twitter.com/2VANG0Srnb
— 105.5 WDUV (@1055WDUV) July 17, 2018
She gave her a phone to call the police and then locked the woman into the bathroom.
However, as she walked back into the front of the store, she saw the kidnappers attempting to get in through the front door.
She unlocked the door of the gas station, acted like everything was normal and told the kidnappers that the woman was in the bathroom.
Instinct and a little white lie helps save a kidnapping and sexual assault victim. Savannah Pritchett, a Stanislaus County gas station cashier, says she hid the woman in a bathroom and when the kidnapers asked where she went, "I told them she told me she started her period." pic.twitter.com/By3b2B06Ff
— Kay Recede FOX40 (@KayRecede) July 16, 2018
Savannah told KFSN, “I knew that if I left the door locked, they would have caught on to something and probably took off. So I went back up there, and I unlocked the door. They seriously had no idea that I knew anything.''
Only minutes later, police offers arrived on the scene and arrested two of the kidnappers.
Two juveniles were later arrested in connection with the kidnapping – it is believed that the four of them have ties to gang activity in the area.
Social media have been applauding Savannah's intuitive actions in the scary situation, calling her ''a very impressive young woman'' and writing, ''kudos to her! Very brave!''
“I’m very thankful that I got to help that girl and I am very thankful that she’s home safe with her family and now I’m happy that they got those guys off the street,” Savannah told ABC News.
What a hero she is!