A 10-year-old boy cleverly escaped a woman who followed him home from school and said she knew his father: 'Act like you're my mom'
WPVI
- A 10-year-old boy in Pottstown, Pennsylvania escaped a woman who was following him.
- The boy asked a cashier to pretend to be his mother, his father told WPVI.
- Pottstown police say they have located the woman and referred her for help with her mental health.
A Pennsylvania boy cleverly escaped a woman who was following him by asking a store clerk to pose as his mother, security camera footage from the store shows.
Ten-year-old Sammy Green was walking home from school in Pottstown, Pennsylvania on Friday when a woman started following him, his father Sam Green told WPVI.
"To see my child looking for help because he was afraid basically for his life, that cuts you deep," Green told CBS.
The Pottstown Police Department told WPVI that police have "located" the woman and she is "being referred for mental health services." The police department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on Tuesday.
The woman tried to get Sammy to go to the convenience store, WaWa, with her and told him that she was a friend of his father's, Green told WPVI. The woman "started walking with him and asking him where his family was, asking where his dad was," Green told the outlet.
"She said she probably knew me and was going to Wawa and that he was supposed to go with her and he could get anything he wanted," Green said, WPVI reported.
Security camera footage caught the moment Sammy and the woman passed the store Dani Bee Funky. The footage shows Sammy walking in the door and walking to the cash register before speaking to the cashier, a 17-year-old named Hannah Daniels, behind the counter while the woman stands in the doorway of the store.
The store's owner, Dani Small, told WPVI that Sammy felt "comfortable enough to come in here" and whispered something to the employee. According to Green, Sammy whispered in the cashier's ear, "Act like you're my mom. This lady is following me." The footage then shows the cashier walking to the door and locking it while the woman walks away.
Small told WPVI that she was very impressed with Hannah's response.
"He was like 'pretend like you're my mom,'" Daniel's told CBS. "And I was like 'alright, go to the back' and he didn't want to leave my side."
Green told WPVI that he has "cried every time" he has watched the video. Sammy that he was "still shaking" once he was inside the store, according to CBS.