BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — A mother in Battle Creek says she's relieved her daughter is safe after police arrested a man accused of trying to lure two children into his vehicle Wednesday afternoon.
Battle Creek police took a 67-year-old Otsego man into custody on charges of child enticement and attempted unlawful imprisonment. He is being held pending formal charges.
Tiffini-Nichole Lawhead said her daughter and a friend were walking through the library parking lot when a stranger pulled up.
"The guy slowed up to the kids, rolled down his windows, and said, 'Get in. Get in,'" Lawhead said. "{he} was trying to get the kids to get in the car."
The children ran inside the library, but the family says the man returned a short time later.
"He turned back around, and came and parked right up here," said Lawhead. "And that's when the kids were pointing out the window, 'He's here. He's here. He here. We're not safe.'"
Willard Library staff placed a 9-1-1 call around 3:36 PM on Wednesday after the children ran inside.
Battle Creek police confirmed the man approached the children twice and asked them to get in his vehicle. Officers and the family credited library security for quickly calling authorities. They also said the children responded exactly how they should have.
"Absolutely good instincts," a police spokesperson said. "That's what you want every child to respond with whenever they're approached by a stranger, to seek safety and try to get away from the potential danger."
Lawhead said she then received a call telling her there had been an attempted kidnapping of her daughter at the library.
"I froze," Lawhead said. She rushed to the library, a place she says the kids go after school "to unwind."
The girl's grandfather, Sam Vosburgh, said he was on the scene minutes later and officers were already there taking the man into custody.
He said, "I thanked them for catching them. I commended them."
Vosburgh shared photographs of the arrest and said his granddaughter was horrified and worried she was never going to see her family again.
Lawhead said the friend her daughter was walking with saved her life by making sure she stayed safe.
Moving forward, she hopes the man is ultimately charged with what he's being held for.
She said, "The louder you are, the louder that the justice system has to get justice. It's that simple."
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