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Police responded to the 1600 block of Clinton where they arrested a man related to a sexual assault reported by a 13-year-old.

(Bradley Devereaux | MLive.com)

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Detectives credit a woman's unexpected decision to stop at home with changing the outcome of an abduction and sexual assault Wednesday evening.

"She did not know about it," Capt. Victor Ledbetter said of a woman who stopped at her home in the 1600 block of Clinton Avenue in Kalamazoo's Edison Neighborhood and was talking to her husband there when police arrived to rescue a 13-year-old girl.

Her husband had abducted, sexually assaulted and hidden the girl in an upstairs closet, Kalamazoo Public Safety officers allege.

"The wife coming home aided in the possible outcome of this situation," said Ledbetter, who is head of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety's Criminal Investigations Division. "This could have ended differently."

Ledbetter said the woman's unexpected arrival gave the teen enough time to dial 911 and allow police to start using GPS and other tracking methods to find her.

"The wife, she is a victim of this also," Ledbetter said of the suspect's wife. "The wife was home momentarily before we got there. She just came home and when we came to the house and told her what was going on, she did not take it well."

Authorities say they will not identify the suspect until charges have been authorized against him by the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor's Office or until his is arraigned in court, which is expected Friday.

Public Safety officers said a police dispatcher received a 911 call at about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 10, from a girl who said she had been abducted.

Officers said the 13-year-old had been waiting for a city bus at a Metro Transit stop in the 1600 block of Portage Street when a man approached and forced her into his car. He then drove her to his house in the 1600 block of Clinton Avenue and sexually assaulted her.

Ledbetter would not say how the man managed to get the girl into his car but indicated that some trickery may have been involved.

"If you're a kid, 13, and the guy is almost 40, there are a lot more clever things and ways," he said.

Although he did not describe the physical dimensions of the attacker or the victim, he said the man also had the physical size necessary to overpower a young teen.

Ledbetter said the suspect is a man who has one misdemeanor offense but no felony charges in his past. He was not someone known to police, Ledbetter said.

"There isn't anything that would have made him stand out to us," the detective said.

Although the girl was checked at a local hospital, Ledbetter would not say if she was struck, beaten or sustained other injuries beyond the sexual assault.

He said he did not ask the girl where she was coming from or going to because that was not his primary concern, and because it had nothing to do with the crime against her.

He said the incident is a perfect opportunity for parents to talk to their children about what to do if anyone ever attempts to abduct or kidnap them.

"If you can, avoid getting inside the vehicle," he said. "By all means, do whatever you can to NOT be forced inside a vehicle. ... If they can run, run. If they can get away, do it. ... If you have to make a stand, make your stand right outside the vehicle. Your chances are better."