A 16-year-old Michigan girl who’d been kidnapped and sexually assaulted was saved at the last minute by a keen-eyed gas station worker.
The rescue happened hours after the unnamed victim was kidnapped from a bus stop on April 13, according to a press release from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office
Around 7:05 am that morning, a female Frontier International Academy student observed suspect Donald James Joseph Arthur Fields, 48, walk up to the victim, who was another student, place something at her back, force her into the back of his van, and drive off. Fields allegedly sexually assaulted the victim once he had her in the van.
Watch surveillance footage of the kidnapping in the first half of the video below (*Graphic content):
16 year old girl kidnapped at gunpoint from her school bus stop in Hamtramck Michigan is saved by her own quick thinking and a brave gas station clerk.
48 year old Donald Fields allegedly forced the teen into his van at 7am on April 13 and sexually assaulted her inside the… pic.twitter.com/beRT1QltE5
— G R I F T Y (@GriftReport) April 21, 2026
“Our young survivor in this case was simply walking in broad daylight when she was viciously attacked and sexually assaulted,” local prosecutor Kym Worthy later said in a statement, according to station WXYZ.
The student who saw the kidnapping alerted a bus driver, who in turn called the police.
“Hi, I’m a school bus driver. A girl just told me a girl was just snatched up by a man,” the bus driver reportedly said.
The police then went to the victim’s school to investigate. While there, they noticed other students were tracking the victim’s location through some app.
Meanwhile, after sexually assaulting the victim, Fields drove her to a gas station, walked inside the store with her, and had her try to purchase cigarettes for him for some weird reason (recall she was 16).
“When he asked her to pay for the cigarettes, I stopped and go there’s something wrong,” clerk Abdulrahman Abohatem later recalled to WXYZ. “And she mouthed talked to me, like with no sound, ‘help.'”
That’s when Abohatem stepped up to the plate.
“I go out, I kick him out, I ask the girl to go behind me,” he explained. “I feel good when you save somebody. Sixteen years old — she is a child.”
And just as Fields left the gas station, the police who’d been tracking the victim’s location arrived, arrested him, confiscated his gun, and impounded his vehicle.
“I believe this could have went a lot worse than it did,” Hamtramck Police Department chief Hussein Farhat said after the arrest. “We have every belief that this could have ended really badly if it wasn’t for the two witnesses, as well as the officers’ ability to be there.”
Farhat wasn’t wrong. It turns out that Field is a registered sex offender “who previously spent time in prison for a home invasion and assault with intent to commit sexual contact,” according to WXYZ.
“This is a man who picked up a child in broad daylight, kidnapped her, sexually assaulted her at gunpoint,” Wayne County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Grace Broughton said in a statement.
The local school board celebrated the victim’s rescue:
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the Hamtramck Police Department for their swift and decisive response to…
Posted by Abdulmalik Algahaim on Monday, April 13, 2026
“I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the Hamtramck Police Department for their swift and decisive response to the kidnapping incident involving a student from one of our neighboring schools,” Hamtramck Public Schools Board of Education President Abdulmalik Algahaim said in a Facebook post
“I also want to recognize and commend the students who witnessed the incident. Their awareness, quick reactions, and willingness to share critical information played a vital role in helping officers track the student’s location and respond without delay. Their courage and cooperation reflect the strength and unity of our youth when faced with danger,” he added.
Fields was reportedly arraigned last Thursday and faced two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, felonious assault, three counts of felony firearm, five counts of felony firearm, and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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