A Georgia mother fought off a man accused of trying to abduct her children at a Marietta gas station, using a gas pump hose to keep him away as newly released surveillance footage captured the terrifying scene.
The video, obtained by FOX 5 Atlanta, shows the woman refueling her vehicle at a Shell station in Marietta around midnight last week when a shirtless and barefoot man approached the family’s car. Police later identified him as 30-year-old Jerahn Tucker.
Marietta Police Department Public Information Officer Charles McPhilamy said Tucker first appeared to speak with the mother before the situation quickly turned dangerous.
“He appears to charge at the car,” McPhilamy said. “He’s trying to open the car doors. He’s trying to pull the child out of the back seat.”
Surveillance footage shows a mother pumping gas shortly before police say a shirtless man approached her family’s vehicle and tried to grab her children at a Shell station in Marietta, Georgia. (WAGA)
According to a warrant cited by FOX 5 Atlanta, the mother told investigators that Tucker claimed he had a gun before his behavior became more aggressive.
The surveillance video shows one of the woman’s children leaping out of the vehicle and running around it while Tucker pursued him. Moments later, Tucker opened the rear passenger-side door as another child remained inside.
In response, the mother grabbed the gas pump hose and used it as a barrier to push Tucker back from her children until two bystanders ran over and intervened, the footage shows.
Surveillance video captures the mother using a gas pump hose to keep the suspect away from her children as police say he tried to pull one of them from the family’s vehicle. (WAGA)
“What is this individual capable of?” McPhilamy said. “What are they doing? Why are they trying to get in my own car? What are they doing? Trying to pull children out of the car.”
Two witnesses dropped what they were carrying and rushed over to help as someone called 911, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
Tucker got into his vehicle and drove away, but officers stopped him a short distance from the gas station and took him into custody.
Surveillance footage shows a man police identified as Jerahn Tucker trying to open the family’s vehicle as the mother confronts him during the alleged attempted kidnapping at a Marietta gas station. (WAGA)
“The actions of the mother and everyone on the scene, their ability to remain calm under pressure and push him away, get him away from the children, get a hold of us so that we can get to the area allowed us to hold this individual accountable,” McPhilamy told the station.
Tucker remains in the Cobb County Jail on charges including kidnapping and simple assault.
Authorities have not released a possible motive for the alleged attack.
