Alyssa Bonal: Florida girl, 11, recounts how knife-wielding sex offender Jared Stanga almost kidnapped her
ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: A brave girl, only 11 years old, fought off a knife-wielding sex offender on Tuesday morning, May 18. The incident occurred when the young girl was waiting at her school bus stop. The incident was captured on video and the same was released by officials.
The Escambia County sheriff's office released the video footage on their Facebook page and the caption read, "Around 7:00 this morning, a white Dodge Journey pulled up to an 11-year-old girl waiting at a bus stop on Old Corry Field Road and Perdido Street. As you could see in this video.”
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Who is Alyssa Bonal?
The minor girl has been identified as Alyssa Bonal. Speaking of going through the frightening incident, the young girl said that there was a lot going through her mind in the moments that the reported sex offender approached her with a knife.
“What is he going to do with me?” Bonal said. “Where is he going to…where am I going to be at? What is my family going to think? Scared… anxious.” The suspect is 30-year-old Jared Stanga, who has been arrested and is being held in the Escambia County Jail on a $1.5 million dollar bond.
Bonal spoke about her ordeal, saying, "A man came out of the car. He had a knife in his hand. I tried running off but he grabbed me. He took me with his arm and I was able to get him down to the ground and I was able to get away.”
She ran to her neighbor's house, who had kept his door open at the time. The neighbor Douglass Rudolph, also spoke about the incident and said, "She comes running around the corner toward me hollering my name and some guy was trying to get her."
The police statement regarding the suspect read, "A Hispanic male exits the vehicle reportedly armed with a knife. The suspect then grabs the little girl and a struggle ensues. She was able to fight and break free from the suspect's grip. She is safe and with her family. If you have any information about this incident, call the ECSO at 850-436-9620 or Crime Stoppers at 850-433-STOP."
Stanga was charged with the attempted kidnapping of a child under 13 and aggravated assault and battery. He also has an extensive list of past sexual crimes against children. Sheriff Chip Simmons said about the incident in a press conference on Tuesday, May 18, “I cannot help to think that this could have ended very differently,” and added, “Had this 11-year-old victim not thought to fight and to fight and to just never give up, then this could have ended terribly.”