SAN ANTONIO – Witnesses say be alert and be warned: a woman was nearly abducted in broad daylight.
They say a woman was grabbed off the sidewalk and pulled into a pickup truck last week near Bitters and Blanco on the north side – just down the road from schools that have also seen attempted abductions.
"She could have gotten molested, abducted or left somewhere,” witness Jason Schirmer says.
He says last Monday, he was taking a break from his job as a graphics designer.
"I heard screaming very loud,” he says.
He ran toward the screams and says he saw a woman in her twenties caught in some sort of a struggle with a man driving a red pickup truck.
"I thought he was abducting her,” Schirmer says.
So he says he didn’t think twice before leaping into action.
"I just grabbed him by the shirt,” Schirmer says. “I put the bone of my elbow into his throat."
He says the driver got scared and hit the gas.
"The girl was hanging by where the mirror is,” Schirmer says.
But both Schirmer and the victim got away.
He told News 4 Crime Tracker Specialist Gilbert de la Portilla don’t the Clark Kent glasses fool you – he has Superman skills.
"I've been doing cage fighting, jujitsu, judo and wrestling my whole life,” Schirmer says.
De la Portilla says the training made the difference.
He practice, practice, practices what he does and with confidence so he knew what he was capable of doing,” de la Portilla says.
But not everyone has a martial arts background. Still, there are plenty of things ordinary people can do to be good witnesses.
"Observe what you see,” de la Portilla says. “Get a good description of the vehicle. Try to get a license plate."
He recommends victims do whatever they can to quickly get out of the dangerous situation – even if it means leaving behind a cell phone, purse or other replaceable items.
De la Portilla says both victims and witnesses need to get good descriptions of suspects, including tattoos, piercings, and even bite or scratch marks.
Schirmer’s coworkers are calling him a hero. He’s just grateful he was in the right place at the right time.
"It looked like something not good was about to happen so I tried to help her,” he says.
