Brave 11-Year-Old Shares How She Fought Off Attacker With a Tip from ‘SVU’

An 11-year-old girl named Alyssa was waiting for the school bus at the bus stop when she noticed a man in a white van approach her. He got out and tried to talk to her. The encounter made her feel uncomfortable. When she made it to school, she told her teacher about the incident, and later, she also told her mother.

Apparently, the police were never notified about this particular incident, but the young girl’s mother still took precautions. She started walking her daughter to the bus stop so she wasn’t alone while she waited for the school bus.

Then, one day Alyssa walked to the bus stop by herself once again. While she waited for the school bus, she sat on the ground mixing blue paint some some homemade slime.

Eventually, the white van she had seen before approached her once again. Surveillance footage shows a man run out of the van and attack Alyssa. She tries to run away, but he catches her. He had a knife in his hand, but Alyssa didn’t give up. She fought for her life and eventually got away, but not before she got blue slime all over the man’s arms.

Watch the video below to learn more about this scary incident and how police caught the attacker that same day.

The attacker has been identified as 30-year-old Jared Paul Stanga. He has been charged with attempted kidnapping of a child under 13 as well as aggravated assault and battery.

The blue slime on Stanga’s arms made it easy for the police to know that he was the one who had attacked Alyssa. The slime didn’t get there by accident either. Alyssa put it there on purpose to help the police identify him, and she learned this tip by watching the show “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” with her mother.

Alyssa told TODAY, “I knew that that might be better evidence if the cops do find him.” She was right.

When asked what SVU’s Olivia Benson would say to Alyssa about her quick-thinking, the 11-year-old responded, “Probably, you’re brave and good job!”

Mariska Hargitay plays Olivia Benson on the show SVU. When she found out about Alyssa’s story and that watching SVU had helped safe this young girl’s life, she took to Instagram to tell Alyssa, “You are one BRAVE, Strong and Smart young woman.”

Have you learned anything from a scripted TV show that has benefited you in real life?