New York Daily News, NY - Jul 9, 2007
Police are hunting the creep who grabbed and tried to molest a 7-year-old girl in Queens on Friday night, but there is no indication the attack is part of a pattern, cops said yesterday.
The perv lured the youngster between two garages on 171st St. in Flushing but she started to scream.
Bleu, a pit bull mix owned by a neighbor, heard the girl and started to bark frantically, said the dog's owner, Heather Fretes. The man fled when Fretes started yelling at him, she said.
Cops are looking for a white man in his late teens or early 20s with sandy brown, spiked hair. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt, cops said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls are kept confidential.
Ernie Naspretto
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United Press International - Jul 8, 2007
New York native Heather Fretes said she discovered the sexual attack in progress after her pit bull-boxer mix suddenly began barking at a walkway between two local garages, the New York Post said Sunday.
Fretes said when she investigated what was upsetting her pet, she found a white man in his 20s struggling with the girl.
Armed only with her clearly antagonized animal, Fretes said she screamed at the man until he fled into some bushes nearby .
"I yelled, 'What's going on here?' and the guy held up his pants and started running," Fretes said, "and the little girl came out crying. She told me he was trying to pull down her shorts."
With the young girl back home safe and sound, Fretes was quick to credit her dog's instincts.
"He's a big hero," she told the Post. "He saved that little girl."
Good Dog!
Gothamist, NY - Jul 8, 2007
A barking pit bull named Bleu (or Blue) was a hero yesterday, as his barking alerted a neighbor to the cries of a young girl who was being molested between two houses on 171st St. in Flushing,
Queens. The Daily News writes that a young man had been sitting on the steps of a house, across the street from where the attack would take place, watching a seven-year-old girl and her friend ride their scooters. Around 7:45 p.m., he approached the young girl and asked her if she wanted to see some worms in a backyard. NY1 reports that the man just pulled the girl off her scooter and carried her to a backyard. Once between two neighboring garages, the man pulled down the girl's pants and attempted to molest her as she started screaming for her parents.
Bleu (The New York Post names the dog Blue), who is a mixed pit bull and belongs to neighbor Heather Fretes, heard the girl's cries and began barking wildly, which brought Fretes to the window, where she saw the attack in progress. She ran outside and yelled at the pervert, who escaped by breaking through a fence––presumably not the one with the barking pit bull on the other side of it––while holding up his pants.
Police are looking for a man in his teens or early 20s, with sandy-brown spiky hair. He was wearing blue jeans and a blue t-shirt Friday evening. Both the Post and the Daily News have pictures of the heroic pit bull, who is adorable looking.
(GOOD DOG, by triborough at flickr)
New York Daily News, NY - Jul 8, 2007
A barking dog and an alert woman scared off a pervert in Queens after he lured a girl into a backyard by promising to show her worms, police and witnesses said yesterday.
"Mommy! Daddy!" the 7-year-old girl screamed as she fought off her attacker between two garages about 7:45 p.m. Friday. "Help me!"
Her cries for help startled a dog on the other side of a fence. Bleu, a mixed pit bull, began barking incessantly, which brought his owner, Heather Fretes, to the window.
"He was going wild barking," Fretes said. "I looked out and I saw two people. The girl was screaming."
Fretes ran outside and yelled at the man, who witnesses said had been watching the girl and her friend before the attack. The suspect tore down part of a fence to escape the backyard on 171st St. in Flushing. The girl wept as she told Fretes about the attack.
"He took my hand and led me back where he tried to pull down my pants," the girl said, according to Fretes.
"Everything is fine," the victim's uncle said late yesterday. "She's okay. As long as she's okay, we're fine. She wasn't hurt."
Paramedics took the girl to a nearby hospital, where she was examined and released. She was shaken up, but not injured. No weapon was used, police said.
A police source said detectives interviewed the girl again yesterday in hopes of putting together a sketch of the suspect.
Cops described him as a white man, in his late teens or early 20s, with sandy brown, spiked hair. He was wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt.
"There's no indication at this point that it's part of a pattern," the police source said. "Obviously, we're checking that out, but it's early in the investigation."
Neighbors said the suspect was sitting on the steps of a nearby home, watching the victim and her 10-year-old friend as they rode their scooters. He then got up and approached the girls, telling them he had a bird and liked animals.
"My sister didn't like what the guy was saying to her, so she went in the house," the 10-year-old's sister said yesterday.
New York Post, NY - Jul 8, 2007
By Georgett Roberts and Samuel Goldsmith
July 8, 2007 -- A heroic watchdog saved a 7-year-old Queens girl from a sexual attacker yesterday, police said.
Blue, a year-old pit-bull-boxer mix, saw a man drag the girl into a small walkway between two garages in a back yard on 171st Street in Flushing, said the mutt's owner, Heather Fretes.
"My dog was barking, which is unusual, so I went in the back to see why," she said. "He was looking in the corner of the yard, and I heard a little girl crying. I said to myself, 'This doesn't sound right.' "
Fretes went to investigate and saw the girl struggling with a dark-haired white man in his 20s who wore jeans and a blue T-shirt.
"It looked like a father and his child, but the girl was crying for her mommy and daddy," she said.
"I yelled, 'What's going on here?' and the guy held up his pants and started running, and the little girl came out crying. She told me he was trying to pull down her shorts."
The man escaped into bushes behind the garages. Fretes called the police and took the girl home.
Fretes said of the dog: "He's a big hero. He saved that little girl."
Witnesses said the attacker was smoking a cigarette and watching the girl and a 10-year-old friend ride their scooters up and down the block on Friday evening.
He approached the girls and said "he wanted to show them worms and birds," one witness said. The 10-year-old ran home, but the victim said she "wanted to play some more" and stayed with the man.
The attacker pulled her off the scooter and took her to the back yard, where he unbuckled his pants and tried to remove her shorts, police said.
"I was upset," Fretes said. "This could have been one of my daughters."
