It's a sad sign of the world we live in that 11-year-old Xochil Garcia has thought about what she would do if she were being robbed or kidnapped, and it's sadder still that she actually had to put a plan into action. But thankfully Garcia managed to escape from a man who tried to kidnap her and also aided in his capture.
On Sunday, Garcia was coming back home from picking up a Mother Day's card and gift (nail polish) when she realized 19-year-old Bernard Mutterperl was following her and decided to run home. From the Daily News:
She recalled seeing him talking to her landlord before, she said, and wondered if she had misjudged him.
But after making it up two and a half flights of stairs in her building, Mutterperl grabbed her just short of her apartment, she said.
"He grabbed my mouth and told me to not scream. I thought he was going to take me up to the roof and rape me or something like that," Xochil said.
"When [we] went downstairs, he loosened my wrist a little bit. And I took advantage of that and I broke out of where he was holding me and I ran outside."
That was Plan B - "to calm down, relax and try to get away." Garcia also admitted to the Post, "Before a robbery happens, I always think of a plan to do. But sometimes when I'm nervous or scared, I forget my ideas. I only came up with half a plan when I got caught." She didn't immediately scream because she wasn't sure her brother would hear her.
When Garcia got away, she screamed for help and buzzed all the apartment intercoms. Finally, Timothy Isaac and her brother Angel heard them, and the two men, with the help of other neighbors, grabbed Mutterperl, who had taken off his green shirt, possibly to evade capture. According to the News, Mutterperl said, "I'm sorry, I won't do it again. I won't do it again," as the "crowd pummeled him to keep him from escaping." He was arraigned on charges of unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a child and held on $75,000 bail.
Garcia's parting advice: "Try to figure out a plan before somebody tries to kidnap you. That way if somebody tries to touch you, you're ready to attack them back."
