CANTON, Mich. (WXYZ) — Michigan parents had just allowed their 12-year-old son Cortay'e to walk to his school bus stop by himself for the second day when a would-be kidnapper jumped out of a car and tried to snatch him.
"I thought I was going to get kidnapped," Cortay'e said.
On Thursday, detectives with the Canton Police Department released images taken from a nearby surveillance camera that show the suspect's white four-door car exiting College Park Estates on Mott Road near Ridge Road.
The would-be kidnapper made his move Wednesday at 7:20 a.m. while it was still dark.
Cortay'e said he spotted the man driving slowly near some homes as he was walking to the bus stop and he wondered why the man was looking at him.
"And then he opened his door and was just sitting there for a minute," he said. "I kept walking. Then he got out and came from the back of the car and tried to grab me."
The 12-year-old was quick to react when the man grabbed his arm, pushing him away and running back home as fast as he could.
His mother was stunned to see him back at home and out of breath. She asked Cortay'e what was wrong.
"Then that's when he explained that the gentleman tried to snatch him," Darne Davis told 7 Action News as she sat next to her son.
Darne and her husband Deangello said what scares them the most is the thought that had their son not been able to escape, they wouldn't have known he'd been abducted until the end of the school day when he didn't return home.
The suspect is described as a white man who appears to be in his 30s with short blond, spiked hair. He stood about 6 feet tall with a thin build and was wearing a black hoodie and gray pants.
The suspect's vehicle is described as a white four-door sedan, possibly a Ford Taurus.
Anyone with information that could help identify the suspect is urged to call Canton police detectives at 734-394-5400.
Cortay'e's parents fear the man will try to abduct another child, and while it's unlikely he'll return to their neighborhood, they hope by sharing their story, parents and children everywhere will be alert.
Cortay'e is hopeful that someone who knows the suspect will contact police and tell them who he is.
"It's really important so it doesn't happen anybody else," he said. "So he doesn't try to snatch up anybody."
