NEW YORK – New York police issued an “amber alert” on Tuesday for a teenage girl who security cameras caught being snatched off a street in the city’s Bronx borough and whisked away by four men in a car, in a scene that resembled a kidnapping in a crime movie.
Police released footage from two surveillance cameras showing a beige-colored four-door sedan pulling up to Karol Sanchez, 16, late on Monday as she walked on a rainy Bronx street with her 36-year-old mother.
Two men can be seen getting out of the car, grabbing Sanchez and dragging her inside as her mother was pushed to the ground while struggling with them. The car, with two other men inside, then sped away.
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“We don’t know what the motive is,” said New York City Police Department spokesman Detective Hubert Reyes.
🚨WANTED🚨for a KIDNAPPING in the vicinity of East 156 Street and Eagle Avenue #Southbronx #bronx @NYPD40pct on 12/16/19@ 11:20PM 💰Reward up to $2500👓Seen this car? Know who They are?☎️Call 1-800-577-TIPS or DM us!📞Calls are CONFIDENTIAL! #YourCityYourCall pic.twitter.com/h26y6HDNN9
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) December 17, 2019
Police issued an “amber alert,” used by law enforcement in suspected kidnappings, for the girl, and said they were seeking the public’s help in finding her and her captors.
Police believe that Sanchez was targeted by the men and was not selected at random, according to an NYPD official who asked to remain anonymous.
Police described the men as being in their 20s, with dark complexions and wearing dark clothing.
Sanchez was described as being about 5 feet, 5 inches (1.6 meters), weighing 150 pounds (68 kg) with short black hair and brown eyes. When she was abducted, she was wearing a dark blue short jacket, white sweater, blue jeans and black sneakers, police said.
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(Reporting by Peter Szekely; editing by Jonathan Oatis)