Police: Maricopa woman, baby kidnapped at gunpoint saved by good Samaritan
MARICOPA, Ariz. - A Maricopa mother and daughter are safe, and it may all be thanks to a stranger that saved them from a gun-carrying man who kidnapped them on March 21.
Now, police are hoping to find the heroic stranger to hear what exactly happened.
The reported incident happened at a gas station near Queen Creek and Price Roads. Police say a man pointed a gun at the woman and told her to drive while her baby was in the back seat. The carjacking finally came to an end when a stranger got involved.
"The suspect entered their vehicle, drew a gun, pointed it at her, and demanded to be taken to the city of Mesa," explains Luis Vila with the Maricopa Police Department.
He says the man opened the car door and sat down with the gun pointed at her. The mother started driving to Mesa just as the man demanded.
"Imagine a 15-20 minute drive with a gun pointed at you. Your nerves might be a little wrecked," Vila says.
She drove about 22 miles from Maricopa into the East Valley, but never quite made it to Mesa.
She told police as she was driving to Mesa he asked her to stop at a Circle K gas station in Chandler to get a drink. That decision is what allowed her to escape.
As she pulled up in front of the gas station and she told police she started screaming. That’s when she says an unknown hero grabbed the man and bear-hugged him while the woman and her baby drove away to safety.
"It was a very heroic thing they did. It’s not every day you come across this kind of situation and it takes a certain kind of individual to go above the call of duty like that," Vila says.
Chandler Police say they found the now suspect, Scott Cascio, hiding nearby and arrested him. Police say he already had a warrant out for his arrest, and are now investigating this as a kidnapping.
Scott Cascio
Maricopa Police want to find the unknown man who they say pulled him out of the car and saved a mother and daughter.
"People who perform these heroic acts, they don’t want any credit, they’re just doing the right thing. But even then, the victim may want to know and thank him personally for what he did," Vila says.
If you know the man who saved the mother and her baby, contact Maricopa Police at 520-316-6800 as they want to thank him and ask him a few questions about the incident.