A gas station clerk in Detroit helped stop a kidnapping after trusting his instincts during a tense encounter. Abdulrahman Abohatem was working his shift when a man walked in with a 16-year-old girl, and he immediately felt something was wrong about the situation.
Things moved fast when the man told the teenager to pay for cigarettes. Abohatem stepped in right away, sensing the girl was in distress. “When he asked her to pay for the cigarette, I said, ‘Stop. There’s something wrong.’ And she mouthed, like talked to me like with no sound, ‘Help,'” Abohatem recalled.
According to ABC News, the incident had started around 7:00 AM, when the teen was taken from a bus stop near her home. A witness saw the abduction and called 911. According to the Hamtramck Police Department, the suspect brought the girl to the gas station about 30 minutes after taking her.
One clerk’s quick thinking and a group of friends using social media together helped bring the teen home safely
Once Abohatem realized the girl needed help, he acted quickly. Surveillance footage shows him stepping between the two to separate them before heading outside as police arrived. “I see the police outside. I point to him – ‘That’s the guy,'” Abohatem recounted. Detroit has seen its share of unsettling incidents lately, including a woman who left a hospital with a $25 gift card after doctors misplaced part of her skull.
The girl was also located through a separate effort by her friends at Frontier International Academy. They tracked her phone location through a social media app and shared it with school principal Mohammed Alsanai, who then passed the information to police.
“One of her friends opened the location through one of the social media apps. I said, ‘Oh, I could see her location right now,'” Alsanai told ABC News. “As we show the police the location, informed the dispatch, and as she walked in and said she had the location, like the whole room froze and we all look at each other like, ‘Here we go.'”
Police confirmed the kidnapping was random and that the suspect and the girl did not know each other. The suspect is currently in custody, and charges are pending with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. Hamtramck Mayor Adam Alharbi addressed the situation at a press conference, stating that the suspect “had a history of rape charges, and we will make sure that he gets what he deserves.”
Beyond crime stories, Detroit also has a thriving cultural side, with a growing scene for live dance music performances that continues to draw attention. The teenager is now safe at home with her family, who have expressed gratitude toward the friends and community members who helped during the ordeal.
Published: Apr 16, 2026 09:45 am