By Robert Boyd, CNN
(SARATOGA SPRINGS) A 9-year-old boy abducted by a stranger in Saratoga Springs says he jumped from a moving vehicle and hid behind a dumpster in order to escape.
The boy, named Aiden, says his quick thinking and brave actions combined with a Gizmo Watch helped him survive.
He was walking through his own Saratoga Springs neighborhood Tuesday afternoon to meet a friend at the Aldara apartments, when he says a strange man in a strange SUV pulled up beside him.
“He got out of the car, walking, and then he just charged at me,” Aiden said. “I ran as fast as I could, but I tripped and I fell and he caught me.”
Aiden said he was thrown in the back seat of the vehicle.
“He just tried to put duct tape over my mouth, so I couldn’t scream, so I just punched it away,” he said.
The suspect drove a few blocks, when he turned behind a nearby Smith’s Grocery Store.
“I said, ‘let me go,’ it was very scary,” Aiden said.
That’s when Aiden said he jumped from the SUV, spraining his ankle.
“My family is more important than breaking a bone,” he said.
The suspect stopped the SUV when he realized Aiden had escaped.
“He started following me, I hid behind a dumpster,” Aiden said.
As the man searched for Aiden, the frightened child said he turned to his Gizmo and he called his mom.
“Apparently my step-dad answered it because he was holding my mom’s phone, and I could hear wheels squealing from his car,” Aiden said.
Within a few minutes, Aiden was back with his family. The Gizmo Watch allows kids to make calls and receive calls with up to four different people.
The watch also has a built-in GPS. Aiden said he doesn’t know how long he may have been hiding behind that dumpster without it.
“If moms are watching this, say this to your kids, ‘Get a Gizmo for them,’” Aiden said.
As for the suspect in this case, police are asking for the public’s help in finding him. He is being described as a white man with long black hair and a goatee. He was driving a tan, late ’90s Chevy Tahoe.
The-CNN-Wire ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
