LAVAL, Canada -- Canadian teen Malyk Bonnet was headed home after finishing his shift as a cook at a restaurant, when he noticed a couple on the street involved in an altercation.

The 17-year-old's quick thinking after encountering the pair is now being praised as heroic by police, who credit him with helping save a woman they say had been abducted by her ex-boyfriend, reports Canada's CBC News.

On Aug. 1, Bonnet told the network he had witnessed a man screaming at a woman in the street. Bonnet approached the couple, and they asked him for bus money. The teen agreed, but when he had a moment alone with the woman, he began to realize something was very wrong.

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"The girl was saying, 'Please help me. He don't want to let me go. I want to go home but he don't want to let me go,'" Bonnet told the CBC.

Bonnet ended up telling a white lie in order to help the woman. He told the couple he lived where they were headed so he could accompany them on the bus. He was able to get the man to trust him.

"My plan was to keep them in a public place, where there's a lot of people," he told the CBC.

Bonnet's instincts were right. The police had actually been looking for the 29-year-old woman, who had allegedly been kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend earlier that day. Laval police told the CBC that they believed the man was very dangerous and had prior run-ins with the law.

Bonnet explained in an interview with the CBC that he was waiting for the right moment to call the police. That moment came when he offered to buy the couple food at a Tim Hortons restaurant. He gave the man some money and Bonnet was able to sneak off. Bonnet's cellphone was dead though, so he borrowed a phone from someone in the restaurant so he could call 911. The police arrived within minutes.

"She was almost crying. She was so happy, so happy not to be with him," Bonnet told CBC about the victim.

The man was arrested on the spot and charged with kidnapping, assault and forcible confinement.

Laval police told the CBC they intend to nominate Bonnet for a provincial award for bravery. Police officers commended Bonnet and have even raised money to pay him back for the money he spent that night.

"I mean yo, money ain't nothing. Food ain't nothing. For a life? A life is really more important than my money," he said.