Fox 13 Tampa reports that on Sunday, a pair of 12-year-old girls were leaving a restaurant when a 37-year-old man approached them saying he would “supervise” their walk home. Allegedly, the man then started hitting one of the girls over the head and then chased them.
The girls got on their bicycles and rode to a nearby church looking for help. The man followed them into the church where witnesses say he claimed they were his daughters. But as he had his arm around one of the girl’s neck, she mouthed to a churchgoer “Please help me, this is not my dad.”
That woman tells reporters she knew something was wrong even before that: "He was kind of talking over her, right behind her, putting his arm around her neck and saying something in her ear, saying, 'We just moved here, we just want to see how we can help do whatever you're doing,'"
"So I engaged in conversation with him, I said, 'Oh that's nice, where did you move here from?' He said, ‘Oh, I am not really sure.’" He was really kind of scary and I was able to signal another church member to call 911".
The man must have gotten suspicious because he just ran out of the church.
Hillsborough County deputies found him walking back towards downtown. They told the girls parents that they believe he was trying to kidnap them.
37 year old David Daniels has been charged with false imprisonment and child abuse and is being held in the Hillsborough County Jail on a $104-thousand bond.
"I don't want any recognition for this," said the woman. "I don't want to be a hero. I just did what I hope anybody would do for my own kids."