The Citrus County Sheriff's Office said an attempted child abduction was thwarted by a determined mother and an off-duty deputy in the right place at the right time.

Deputies say a man walked into store, grabbed 13-year-old girl

Mom, suspect engaged in 'tug-of-war' over girl, deputies say



Man taken into custody is not a listed sexual offender, predator

On Tuesday, Craig Bonello, 30, of Hernando, allegedly grabbed a 13 year old who was shopping at a Dollar General Store on N. Trucks Ave. with her mother.

Surveillance video shows Bonello running toward the exit of the store with the girl in his arms.

"At that level, once he's committed to do something that heinous and to attack a 13-year-old girl unprovoked that he's never met before or knows from what we believe, that's pretty serious stuff," said Sgt. Craig Callahan.

The girl's mother ran after them and grabbed onto her daughter. She was screaming for help and trying to wrestle Bonello to get a hold of her daughter.

"A struggle ensued, actually a pretty violent struggle, throughout the store. The mother realized what was happening and essentially a tug-of-war battle was occurring," said Sgt. Callahan.

Bonello finally let go of the girl and ran out of the store.

At the same time, off-duty Deputy Jonathan Behnen, stopped at the store for supplies.

When he realized what was happening, he pulled his patrol car in front of the suspect's vehicle, ordered him out of the car at gunpoint and took him into custody.

"I pulled out my firearm, pointed it at him and told him to stop. He was still trying to finagle his way around the patrol car. That's when I started banging on the window with the gun, the only thing I had to break it, " said Deputy Behnen.



"Behnen is a bona fide hero," said Captain Ricky Grant, who was at the scene. "If it weren't for him, this guy would have gotten away."

Ashley Harper was shopping at the Dollar General a few hours after the incident with her children. She said she would have done the same thing to protect her daughter.

"Oh yeah, oh yeah. There wouldn't have been any doubt. I would have thrown myself on anybody to protect her and now I guess I have to be prepared to do that," she said.

Dollar General issued this statement:

"The safety of our customers is a top priority. We are grateful the victim and her mother were not injured in this incident. We are also thankful for the actions of Deputy Jonathan Behnen who was nearby when this occurred and reacted quickly to arrest the suspect."

The Sheriff's Office said it doesn't know why Bonello tried to take the teen. He is being charged with kidnapping and child abuse. He had his first appearance Wednesday.



"(Craig Bonello) needs to be put away. As a parent, you don't want to see somebody like that walking around in society, " said Deputy Behnen.



Authorities said the mother and daughter who were involved are upset but they were not injured.



Citrus County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Behnen (seen with K9 Jerry Lee, who was not with Behnen at the time of the incident) showed up to a dollar store Tuesday morning just in time to stop an attempted kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl, deputies said. (Citrus County Sheriff’s Office)