'Hero' Bus Driver Saves 3-Year-Old from Kidnapper in California, Police Say
The 3-year-old boy was reported missing from a northern California library.
— -- A northern California bus driver is being called a "hero" by police for quick thinking that saved a 3-year-old from an alleged kidnapper.
A 3-year-old boy was reported missing Friday morning from the Milpitas Public Library, about 45 miles from San Francisco, according a press release from the Milpitas Police Department.
About an hour later, a Valley Transportation Authority bus driver contacted authorities, saying he believed the suspect and child were on his bus.
The boy was crying, according to ABC station KGO-TV in San Francisco. The driver, Tim Watson, pulled over and pretended to look for a lost bag so he could contact police, KGO-TV said.
When the bus arrived at the Fremont BART station, police officers were waiting. They found the suspect, identified as Alfonso Edington, 23, getting off the bus with the 3-year-old in his arms, police said.
An officer "pried the child away" from Edington, police said, and after a brief struggle, Edington was detained and taken into custody.
The child didn't appear to have any injuries, police said.
Watson told KGO-TV he broke down when the boy was safely reunited with his family.
"That's when my own kids came to mind and I just broke down," Watson said. "I couldn't hold myself down. I just had to go inside the bus and reflect."
Watson "was definitely a hero," Robert Vega, Communications Supervisor with the Milpitas Police, told ABC News today.
Edington was arrested on a kidnapping charge, Milpitas Police told ABC News, and he remains in custody. According to KGO-TV, the suspect had no connection to the family.