A Good Samaritan who saved a girl from an attempted kidnapping at a North Carolina restaurant will be dining on the house for the next year as an appreciation for his heroic efforts.
Cody Byrd, a graduate student studying computer science at North Carolina A&T University, is being hailed as a hero after he foiled an alleged kidnapper’s attempt to abduct an eight-year-old girl at a Biscuitville restaurant in Greensboro, WGHP reported.
Police say the suspect, Timothy Fry, allegedly admitted to kidnapping the girl because he found her sexually attractive.
Heather Owen and her daughter Madeline were enjoying breakfast at Biscuitville on a typical day off from school when her daughter asked to use the restroom.
“And I was like, ‘Okay. We’re here all the time,’ so I didn’t think too much about it,” Owen said. “She’s in eyesight of me, and I said, ‘Okay, do you need me to come with you?’ She says, ‘No, I’m okay.’ I was like, ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Yeah, I’m okay.’
While Madeline was in the restroom, Owen noticed a man next to them that appeared to be watching Madeline. The man also got up and walked towards the bathroom at the time.
“Just as he got there, Madeline came out of the bathroom, and that’s when the guy tried to grab her— and that’s when Cody intervened,” Owen said. “Then, Madeline came running around to me.”
Byrd also managed to get a photo of the suspect as he fled and a photo of his license plate on his vehicle. Within hours, Fry was arrested as a suspect thanks to Byrd’s efforts.
Biscuitville representatives presented Byrd with a Good Citizen Award and free breakfast for a year for his efforts on Tuesday.
“I just really want Cody to be sure that he realizes how appreciative we are as a brand and that we certainly do recognize what he did and it’s no small thing,” said Kristie Mitchell, vice president of brand and marketing at Biscuitville. “And so, it was worth the time to stop just to say thank you to him and to be extremely grateful for Cody.”
Rick and Heather Owen, the girl’s parents, were both present at the ceremony and praised him for saving their daughter.
“He just automatically knew what to do,” Rick Owen told local media outlets. “He’s a true hero.”
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