Inset: Dominic Sacco (Strongsville Police Department). Background: A section of Fair Road in Strongsville, Ohio (Google Maps).
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 currently detained by the Strongsville Police Department facing charges of abduction, as reported by the law enforcement agency in a press release. The alarming event occurred Friday at dawn.
Shortly before 6:40 a.m., a 15-year-old girl found herself standing beside Fair Road in Strongsville, waiting for her school bus, as stated by the local police. It was during this time that “an adult male approached and seized her.”
The girl managed to “break free from the man” and hurried back to her home, police reported. Officers swiftly arrived and began an investigation. According to authorities, they located a man approximately a quarter of a mile from the spot where the girl mentioned the incident occurred.
The man, identified as Sacco, was “confirmed as the individual who grabbed the juvenile” and subsequently arrested, the department mentioned.
Strongsville City Schools Superintendent Cameron Ryba said he was “deeply concerned” by the attempted abduction.
“A Strongsville High School student encountered a dangerous safety threat when a 27-year-old man approached and seized her,” Ryba expressed in a statement provided by Cleveland’s CBS affiliate WOIO. “Her bravery and the quick reaction of the Strongsville Police Department led to the identification and arrest of the man.”
The statement goes on:
As both a Superintendent and father, I am profoundly concerned about this occurrence. I am immensely thankful for the student’s bravery in defending herself and for the prompt actions taken by the Strongsville Police Department to secure her safety and rapidly detain 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.
