New York's Bravest, Finest Team Up To Track Luring Suspect To Scarsdale Home
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A child waiting for a bus in the Bronx escaped a stranger who tried to lure her into his car.
Thanks to some hero firefighters, a suspect is now in custody.
As CBS2's Dave Carlin reported, the incident started at a bus stop half a block from the firehouse that became a safe haven for a scared 12-year-old girl.
The firefighters of Engine 52 in the Riverside section of the Bronx are blessed with skill sets for almost anything.
They took quick, bold action when a 12-year-old girl ran to them from a nearby bus stop on Henry Hudson Parkway East at West 246th Street.
That's where police say she was menaced around 5 p.m. on Wednesday night, by a man in a black SUV. The victim said he urged her to get in his vehicle.
Her correct instinct was to scream and run -- not to some random house -- but to the very safe haven full of trained lifesavers.
"I think she had a lot of courage," Cyril Benichou said.
Once inside the firehouse, the girl described the vehicle and the suspect. Firefighters ran outside, looked down the block and saw the suspect was still in the area, near the bus stop.
The firefighters got creative, using a fire truck to block in the suspect's vehicle.
The driver backed up, and hit a parked school bus as he rammed his way out to leave the area.
Still, firefighters had time to jot down his license plate info and a description for police.
As the car raced north on the Henry Hudson Parkway, a call went out for all units to look for a car with a smashed window and damaged bumper.
Plate information led investigators to an address on Church Lane in Scarsdale, and 28-year-old suspect Jeremy Goldberg.
To get to the suspect faster, Scarsdale police went ahead of NYPD officers, locating a damaged SUV and detaining Goldberg.
Scarsdale officers handed him over to their NYPD counterparts for transport back to the Bronx to face charges of leaving the scene of an accident.
Prosecutors said other charges could come soon.
"The great thing that our firefighters acted as guardians for little children," Max Kats Nelson said.
"They did much more than the minimum required to protect this girl," Benichou said.
Goldberg is in lock-up in the Bronx and is expected to be arraigned on Thursday.
